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Systems Interoperability Types: A Tertiary Study: Discussing the Results and What Comes Next

An Adventure Amidst the Industrial Revolution

The Time Traders by Andre Alice Norton, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . CHAPTER 11 The Time Traders  Chapter 11 It took Ross a while to learn that the dirty-white walls of this tunnel which were almost entirely opaque, with dark objects showing dimly through them here and there, were of solid ice. A black wire was hooked overhead and at regular intervals hung with lights which did nothing to break the sensation of glacial cold about them. Ross shuddered. Every breath he drew stung in his lungs; his bare shoulders and arms and the exposed section of thigh between kilt and boot were numb. He could only move on stiffly, pushed ahead by his guards when he faltered. He guessed that were he to lose his footing here and surrender to the cold, he would forfeit the battle entirely and with it his life. He had no way of measuring the length of the boring through the solid ice, but they were at last fronted by another opening, a ragged one which might have been hacked with an ax. They emerged from it into the wildest scene Ross had ever seen. Of course, he was familiar with ice and snow, but here was a world surrendered completely to the brutal force of winter in a strange, abnormal way. It was a still, dead white-gray world in which nothing moved save the wind which curled the drifts. His guards covered their eyes with the murky lenses they had worn pushed up on their foreheads within the shelter, for above them sunlight dazzled on the ice crest. Ross, his eyes smarting, kept his gaze centered on his feet. He was given no time to look about. A rope was produced, a loop of it flipped in a noose about his throat, and he was towed along like a leashed dog. Before them was a path worn in the snow, not only by the passing of booted feet, but with more deeply scored marks as if heavy objects had been sledded there. Ross slipped and stumbled in the ruts, fearing to fall lest he be dragged. The numbness of his body reached into his head. He was dizzy, the world about him misting over now and again with a haze which arose from the long stretches of unbroken snow fields. Tripping in a rut, he went down upon one knee, his flesh too numbed now to feel the additional cold of the snow, snow so hard that its crust delivered a knife's cut. Unemotionally, he watched a thin line of red trickle in a sluggish drop or two down the blue skin of his leg. The rope jerked him forward, and Ross scrambled awkwardly until one of his captors hooked a fur mitten in his belt and heaved him to his feet once more. The purpose of that trek through the snow was obscure to Ross. In fact, he no longer cared, save that a hard rebel core deep inside him would not let him give up as long as his legs could move and he had a scrap of conscious will left in him. It was more difficult to walk now. He skidded and went down twice more. Then, the last time he slipped, he sledded past the man who led him, sliding down the slope of a glass-slick slope. He lay at the foot, unable to get up. Through the haze and deadening blanket of the cold he knew that he was being pulled about, shaken, generally mishandled; but this time he could not respond. Someone snapped open the rings about his wrists. There was a call, echoing eerily across the ice. The fumbling about his body changed to a tugging and once more he was sent rolling down the slope. But the rope was now gone from his throat, and his arms were free. This time when he brought up hard against an obstruction he was not followed. Ross's conscious mind—that portion of him that was Rossa, the trader—was content to lie there, to yield to the lethargy born of the frigid world about him. But the subconscious Ross Murdock of the Project prodded at him. He had always had a certain cold hatred which could crystalize and become a spur. Once it had been hatred of circumstances and authority; now it became hatred for those who had led him into this wilderness with the purpose, as he knew now, of leaving him to freeze and die. Ross pulled his hands under him. Though there was no feeling in them, they obeyed his will clumsily. He levered himself up and looked around. He lay in a narrow crevicelike cut, partly walled in by earth so frozen as to resemble steel. Crusted over it in long streaks from above were tongues of ice. To remain here was to serve his captors' purpose. Ross inched his way to his feet. This opening, which was intended as his grave, was not so deep as the men had thought it in their hurry to be rid of him. He believed that he could climb out if he could make his body answer to his determination. Somehow Ross made that supreme effort and came again to the rutted path from which they had tumbled him. Even if he could, there was no sense in going along that rutted trail, for it led back to the ice-encased building from which he had been brought. They had thrust him out to die; they would not take him in. But a road so well marked must have some goal, and in hopes that he might find shelter at the other end, Ross turned to the left. The trace continued down the slope. Now the towering walls of ice and snow were broken by rocky teeth as if they had bitten deep upon this land, only to be gnawed in return. Rounding one of those rock fangs, Ross looked at a stretch of level ground. Snow lay here, but the beaten-down trail led straight through it to the rounded side of a huge globe half buried in the ground, a globe of dark material which could only be man-made. Ross was past caution. He must get to warmth and shelter or he was done for, and he knew it. Wavering and weaving, he went on, his attention fixed on the door ahead—a closed oval door. With a sob of exhausted effort, Ross threw himself against it. The barrier gave, letting him fall forward into a queer glimmering radiance of bluish light. The light rousing him because it promised more, he crawled on past another door which was flattened back against the inner wall. It was like making one's way down a tube. Ross paused, pressing his lifeless hands against his bare chest under the edge of his tunic, suddenly realizing that there was warmth here. His breath did not puff out in frosty streamers before him, nor did the air sear his lungs when he ventured to draw in more than shallow gulps. With that realization a measure of animal caution returned to him. To remain where he was, just inside the entrance, was to court disaster. He must find a hiding place before he collapsed, for he sensed he was very near the end of his ability to struggle. Hope had given him a flash of false strength, the impetus to move, and he must make the most of that gift. His path ended at a wide ladder, coiling in slow curves into gloom below and shadows above. He sensed that he was in a building of some size. He was afraid to go down, for even looking in that direction almost finished his sense of balance, so he climbed up. Step by step, Ross made that painful journey, passing levels from which three or four hallways ran out like the radii of a spider's web. He was close to the end of his endurance when he heard a sound, echoed, magnified, from below. It was someone moving. He dragged his body into the fourth level where the light was very faint, hoping to crawl far enough into one of the passages to remain unseen from the stair. But he had gone only part-way down his chosen road when he collapsed, panting, and fell back against the wall. His hands pawed vainly against that sleek surface. He was falling through it! Ross had a second, perhaps two, of stupefied wonder. Lying on a soft surface, he was enfolded by a warmth which eased his bruised and frozen body. There was a sharp prick in his thigh, another in his arm, and the world was a hazy dream until he finally slept in the depths of exhaustion. There were dreams, detailed ones, and Ross stirred uneasily as his sleep thinned to waking. He lay with his eyes closed, fitting together odd bits of—dreams? No, he was certain that they were memories. Rossa of the Beaker traders and Ross Murdock of the project were again fused into one and the same person. How it had happened he did not know, but it was true. Opening his eyes, he noticed a curved ceiling of soft blue which misted at the edges into gray. The restful color acted on his troubled, waking mind like a soothing word. For the first time since he had been struck down in the night his headache was gone. He raised his hand to explore that old hurt near his hairline that had been so tender only yesterday that it could not bear pressure. There remained only a thin, rough line like a long-healed scar, that was all. Ross lifted his head to look about him. His body lay supported in a cradlelike arrangement of metal, almost entirely immersed in a red gelatinous substance with a clean, aromatic odor. Just as he was no longer cold, neither was he hungry. He felt as fit as he ever had in his life. Sitting up in the cradle, he stroked the jelly away from his shoulders and chest. It fell from him cleanly, leaving no trace of grease or dampness on his skin. There were other fixtures in the small cylinderlike chamber besides that odd bed in which he had lain. Two bucket-shaped seats were placed at the narrow fore part of the room and before those seats was a system of controls he could not comprehend. As Ross swung his feet to the floor there was a click from the side which brought him around, ready for trouble. But the noise had been caused by the opening of a door into a small cupboard. Inside the cupboard lay a fat package. Obviously this was an invitation to investigate the offering. The package contained a much folded article of fabric, compressed and sealed in a transparent bag which he fumbled twice before he succeeded in releasing its fastening. Ross shook out a garment of material such as he had never seen before. Its sheen and satin-smooth surface suggested metal, but its stuff was as supple as fine silk. Color rippled across it with every twist and turn he gave to the length—dark blue fading to pale violet, accented with wavering streaks of vivid and startling green. Ross experimented with a row of small, brilliant-green studs which made a transverse line from the right shoulder to the left hip, and they came apart. As he climbed into the suit the stuff modeled to his body in a tight but perfect fit. Across the shoulders were bands of green to match the studs, and the stockinglike tights were soled with a thick substance which formed a cushion for his feet. He pressed the studs together, felt them lock, and then stood smoothing that strange, beautiful fabric, unable to account for either it or his surroundings. His head was clear; he could remember every detail of his flight up to the time he had fallen through the wall. And he was certain that he had passed through not only one, but two, of the Red time posts. Could this be the third? If so, was he still a captive? Why would they leave him to freeze in the open country one moment and then treat him this way later? He could not connect the ice-encased building from which the Reds had taken him with this one. At the sound of another soft noise Ross glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the cradle of jelly, from which he had emerged, close in upon itself until its bulk was a third of its former size. Compact as a box, it folded up against the wall. Ross, his cushioned feet making no sound, advanced to the bucket-chairs. But lowering his body into one of them for a better look at what vaguely resembled the control of a helicopter—like the one in which he had taken the first stage of his fantastic journey across space and time—he did not find it comfortable. He realized that it had not been constructed to accommodate a body shaped precisely like his own. A body like his own.... That jelly bath or bed or whatever it was.... The clothing which adapted so skillfully to his measurements.... Ross leaned forward to study the devices on the control board, confirming his suspicions. He had made the final jump of them all! He was now in some building of that alien race upon whose existence Millaird and Kelgarries had staked the entire project. This was the source, or one of the sources, from which the Reds were getting the knowledge which fitted no modern pattern. A world encased in ice and a building with strange machinery. This thing—a cylinder with a pilot's seat and a set of controls. Was it an alien place? But the jelly bath—and the rest of it.... Had his presence activated that cupboard to supply him with clothing? And what had become of the tunic he was wearing when he entered? Ross got up to search the chamber. The bed-bath was folded against the wall, but there was no sign of his Beaker clothing, his belt, the hide boots. He could not understand his own state of well being, the lack of hunger and thirst. There were two possible explanations for it all. One was that the aliens still lived here and for some reason had come to his aid. The other was that he stood in a place where robot machinery worked, though those who had set it up were no longer there. It was difficult to separate his memory of the half-buried globe he had seen from his sickness of that moment. Yet he knew that he had climbed and crawled through emptiness, neither seeing nor hearing any other life. Now Ross restlessly paced up and down, seeking the door through which he must have come, but there was not even a line to betray such an opening. "I want out," he said aloud, standing in the center of the cramped room, his fists planted on his hips, his eyes still searching for the vanished door. He had tapped, he had pushed, he had tried every possible way to find it. If he could only remember how he had come in! But all he could recall was leaning against a wall which moved inward and allowed him to fall. But where had he fallen? Into that jelly bath? Ross, stung by a sudden idea, glanced at the ceiling. It was low enough so that by standing on tiptoes he could drum his fingers on its surface. Now he moved to the place directly above where the cradle had swung before it had folded itself away. Rapping and poking, his efforts were rewarded at last. The blue curve gave under his assault. He pushed now, rising on his toes, though in that position he could exert little pressure. Then as if some faulty catch had been released, the ceiling swung up so that he lost his footing and would have fallen had he not caught the back of one of the bucket-seats. He jumped and by hooking his hands over the edge of the opening, was able to work his way up and out, to face a small line of light. His fingers worked at that, and he opened a second door, entering a familiar corridor. Holding the door open, Ross looked back, his eyes widening at what he saw. For it was plain now that he had just climbed out of a machine with the unmistakable outline of a snub-nosed rocket. The small flyer—or a jet, or whatever it was—had been fitted into a pocket in the side of the big structure as a ship into a berth, and it must have been set there to shoot from that enclosing chamber as a bullet is shot from a rifle barrel. But why? Ross's imagination jumped from fact to theory. The torpedo craft could be an atomic jet. All right, he had been in bad shape when he fell into it by chance and the bed machine had caught him as if it had been created for just such a duty. What kind of a small plane would be equipped with a restorative apparatus? Only one intended to handle emergencies, to transport badly injured living things who had to leave the building in a hurry. In other words, a lifeboat! But why would a building need a lifeboat? That would be rather standard equipment for a ship. Ross stepped into the corridor and stared about him with open and incredulous wonder. Could this be some form of ship, grounded here, deserted and derelict, and now being plundered by the Reds? The facts fitted! They fitted so well with all he had been able to discover that Ross was sure it was true. But he determined to prove it beyond all doubt. He closed the door leading to the lifeboat berth, but not so securely that he could not open it again. That was too good a hiding place. On his cushioned feet he padded back to the stairway, and he stood there listening. Far below were sounds, a rasp of metal against metal, a low murmur of muted voices. But from above there was nothing, so he would explore above before he ventured into that other danger zone. Ross climbed, passing two more levels, to come out into a vast room with a curving roof which must fill the whole crown of the globe. Here was such a wealth of machines, controls, things he could not understand that he stood bewildered, content for the moment merely to look. There were—he counted slowly—five control boards like those he had seen in the small escape ship. Each of these was faced by two or three of the bucket-seats, only these swung in webbing. He put his hand on one, and it bobbed elastically. The control boards were so complicated that the one in the lifeboat might have been a child's toy in comparison. The air in the ship had been good; in the lifeboat it had held the pleasant odor of the jelly; but here Ross sniffed a faint but persistent hint of corruption, of an old malodor. He left the vantage point by the stairs and paced between the control boards and their empty swinging seats. This was the main control room, of that he was certain. From this point all the vast bulk beneath him had been set in motion, sailed here and there. Had it been on the sea, or through the air? The globe shape suggested an air-borne craft. But a civilization so advanced as this would surely have left some remains. Ross was willing to believe that he could be much farther back in time than 2000 b.c., but he was still sure that traces of those who could build a thing like this would have existed in the twentieth century a.d. Maybe that was how the Reds had found this. Something they had turned up within their country—say, in Siberia, or some of the forgotten corners of Asia—had been a clue. Having had little schooling other than the intensive cramming at the base and his own informal education, the idea of the race who had created this ship overawed Ross more than he would admit. If the project could find this, turn loose on it the guys who knew about such things.... But that was just what they were striving for, and he was the only project man to have found the prize. Somehow, someway, he had to get back—out of this half-buried ship and its icebound world—back to where he could find his own people. Perhaps the job was impossible, but he had to try. His survival was considered impossible by the men who had thrown him into the crevice, but here he was. Thanks to the men who had built this ship, he was alive and well. Ross sat down in one of the uncomfortable seats to think and thus avoided immediate disaster, for he was hidden from the stairs on which sounded the tap of boots. A climber, maybe two, were on their way up, and there was no other exit from the control cabin. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Andre Alice Norton (2006). The Time Traders. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19145/pg19145-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

Ross shuddered

Pure Evil

Pura maldad

Mal absolu

शुद्ध बुराई

悪の権化

Pura maldade

Ác ma thuần túy

纯粹的邪恶

Astounding Stories of Super-Science May 1931: Dark Moon - Chapter IV

This Slogging thread by Arthur Tkachenko and Mónica Freitas occurred in slogging's official #random channel, and has been edited for readability. Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:20 PM Ok Elon, I'm really bored Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:22 PM Hello Slogging citizens, today wanna explore why Boring Company isn't makes me happy. Mónica Freitas Limarc Ambalina Ellen Stevens richard-kubina do you wanna hop? Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:22 PM Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:26 PM it's started at 2017 "Serial entrepreneur says his ambitious tunnel-boring endeavor, aptly named The Boring Company, has officially started digging underneath Los Angeles." https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/29/elon-musks-boring-machine-completes-the-first-section-of-an-la-tunnel.html https://www.cnbc.com/elon-musk/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP0DnKu6itE Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:28 PM there were a few iterations made after that. As an engineer in mind, he and his team decided to reinvent the wheel and upgrade current machines. it was not a bad idea btw, because this business is old and nobody want to be a gamechanger. at the same time - there a lot of things that slowing things down... like a huge machine that actually doing this digging https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrlXsHjbaNk Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:29 PM in a few years later there was a presentation party, which was funny, but still raised a lot of questions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS-swDhBrP0 Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:31 PM i'll skip monetization aka smart marketing where by using Elon's influence in Twitter(he bought it, funny right?) and raise money by selling flamethrowers and baseball caps. Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:32 PM as a startup in mind, everything changes quickly and few majors from big cities tried to push tunnels via Boring Company but were hit with bureaocracy and got silent... Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:34 PM but Las Vegas tunnel digging still started and I think started well. Even while we didn't get Sci-Fi "Maimi 80s" things - it proved the point. It actually can dig for a client https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02vsw1jWU8Q Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:34 PM Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:36 PM Cool company also jumped on this train and start to build their boring machines too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0SljoJPty0 Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:38 PM But again, if we want to move forward from traffic in LA into gliding in tonnels - there not a lot of progress, to be honest. Plus, I'm sure that Musk want to dig some dirt out on Mars... With this type of rate, it will be too far away for him to watch Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:38 PM As civilization moves forward, we did a great leap from trains running on coil https://media.giphy.com/media/ZzBtoSC42IrMQ/giphy.gif Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:39 PM But we still moving goods by tankers and then diesel trucks moving things into our malls. And we move goods from that malls into our houses using gas cars... Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:43 PM if we move heavy goods transportation under the ground - it can help a lot. Like it will not destroy roads quickly, not pollute our lungs with stuff and i'm sure it can drive cost down, which we all want to experience. while someone can say - we still have plenty roads - check what Jeff Bezos did. In order to be able to have his 1-day delivery - he bought a fleet(ok, lease) a fleet of airplanes. and i'm sure, Jeff and team know something.... Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:44 PM Here you can watch a long presentation from 2018 for some tech inspiration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwX9G38vdCE Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 12:46 PM While me still not satisfied with results, valuation is going up https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/21/elon-musks-boring-company-hits-5point7-billion-valuation.html Mónica Freitas May 13, 2022, 3:03 PM Arthur Tkachenko, I'm not super aware of what Boring Company is doing at the moment but though I get the perks of building tunnels for goods transportation, is Musk or anyone involved in this endeavor concerned about the environmental downsides that might come from this? Do these tunnels come with greener transport alternatives? If not, is it worth it to start tunneling? Arthur Tkachenko May 13, 2022, 5:29 PM Mónica Freitas there were two items that started Boring Company: Elon get crazy about driving and sitting in traffic jams and one SpaceX employee get hit by a car near their office. Can you explain what do you mean by "environmental downsides that might come from this"? He want to put Teslas inside of it, so cars with gas engines wouldn't be allowed. Plus, there are places, like stadiums, malls, and airports that always have huge parking lot areas. if tunnels will be connected to such places, people can use electro bus for moving out. as towns are growing(let's assume pandemic is over and everybody gets back to their offices) there is a need for tunnels(not just for transportation, but for water pipes, cabels, etc) < Do these tunnels come with greener transport alternatives? < If not, is it worth it to start tunneling? 😂 1 🔥 1 Arthur Tkachenko May 14, 2022, 8:46 AM wow, just figure out that there is a whole series about digging tunnels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE2MSXM1OpI Arthur Tkachenko May 15, 2022, 7:54 AM Cool video about how Chicago mayor trying to be cool and grow the city quickly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnobWh5iloE Arthur Tkachenko May 16, 2022, 10:49 AM Small boring machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HXfBprA7yU while it's smaller than previous titans, humans still can sit in it ^_^ Arthur Tkachenko May 16, 2022, 10:53 AM While i think hyperloops are still decades away, for sure, combining tunnels with loops without air is doable, but very hard to achieve. So they probably digging some dirt out, and building a straight line for Hyperloop(it doesn't like turns, so +1 problem with our towns) and testing some beta vehicles there. But not more that. only a test site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YFKPsWdleI Arthur Tkachenko May 16, 2022, 10:56 AM This video also proves my point - right now Boring Company used mostly as PR stunt for promoting some crazy projects, instead of using real cases/towns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch_8uxlpmug Mónica Freitas May 16, 2022, 4:21 PM Arthur Tkachenko I love how Musk went like: I'm sick of traffic. Let's dig holes 😂😂 Mónica Freitas May 16, 2022, 4:23 PM Arthur Tkachenko so essentially it would be another way for him to establish a monopoly and get more money. Wouldn't it be more efficient to create another railway system underground but try to make it greener? Less traffic, more sustainable options, less pollution. Win-win Arthur Tkachenko May 25, 2022, 4:48 PM Mónica Freitas i think there are a few downsides to the "railway system underground". because it will require building more wide tunnels, railway require big machines/engines to drive trains.... while tunnels that Musk wants to build are not wide at all, they are mostly a size of a car that will run through them. Plus, as Musk building an autopilot - you don't need to have a pilot that will ride a train underground

Elon, I'm Bored [Part One]

* * Achievement unlocked: With more than ‘4 billion’ in total votes -- almost half the population of earth voted for startups! JUST KIDDING! Some companies had a to accumulating their votes. unique approach In 2021, decided to host to highlight the backbone of the future - tech startups! for the first time in forever (make sure you sing it in Anna’s voice), HackerNoon.com Startups of The Year More than 44,000 startups were nominated all across the globe, spanning over 4,553 cities. That’s.Just.Spiffy! To see who is a winner in each respective city, visit and pick a city. The name at the top of the list is the winner. (Compromised awards are under review.) startups.hackernoon.com The will announce the winners per region in their respective cities. Startups Winners Announcement Series We’d like to take a moment here and thank every single person who cast a vote and every single company, both nominated and not nominated yet this year. Furthermore, we thank you for existing and opening more opportunities for the wonders of the future to come. Even if you don’t win anything today, you’ve won something much more valuable - our hearts <3 Okay, sorry for the long introduction. Below are all the Startups Winners: Startups of the Year (SOTY) in Africa Johannesburg, South Africa With more than 900 votes cast, #SOTY calls.... MiBRAND Thank you for connecting businesses and consumers, great job! Lagos, Nigeria With 836 votes in the bag, let’s give it up for... Goodtalent Thanks for helping tech companies build great engineering teams. Cape Town, South Africa Want to learn more about finance and use that knowledge to make better financial decisions? Look no further. Introducing winner of Startups of The Year, Cape Town: Revix With 527 votes cast, it seems like a lot of people have more money in their pockets thanks to . Revix Mahé, Seychelles With around 515 votes cast, #SOTY summons... DAOLaunch Thank you for bridging the gap between investors and startups. Lusaka And the winner for #SOTY in Lusaka is... ComGrow Thanks to them, people here are getting closer to the reality of the digitization of village banking. Nairobi, Kenya With 252 votes cast, UTU came out top as the Startup of The Year. Thanks for building the trust infrastructure of the internet to help businesses and consumers engage and transact in a more reliable way. Yaoundé Accounting for more than 73% of total votes, CamPay won this award fair and square. Thank you for making sending and receiving payments easier between online merchants. Abuja, Nigeria A proud winner in the prestigious capital of Nigeria, Elesaro deserves all the plaudits it gets. is a suite crowdfunding protocol built on BSC, Reward, Equity, Lending & NFT Marketplace. Congratulations! Elesaro Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Jamii Africa is the name that will always be engraved on the #SOTY trophy. As a mobile micro-health insurance, Jamii Africa has done a great job for the health sector in Tanzania. Kigali, Rwanda Another #SOTY medal in the bag for none other than …wait for it… BAG Innovation BAG Innovation applies Gamification to offer real-time access to experience-based learning for University students in East Africa. Everybody loves playing games, but using games to learn in school is on another level. Gauteng, South Africa And the award goes to... Planet42 Thanks for democratising mobility by enabling people ignored by banks to get access to a personal vehicle through a car subscription service. Once again, congratulations! Port Harcourt, Nigeria Cryptocurrency is the present and the future, as we’ve all come to know. FLITBASE makes these digital assets more accessible to everyone. #SOTY is proud to add you to our Hall of Fame. Cairo, Egypt With 18 votes won out of the 91 cast, it seems there was fierce competition. Congratulations to... SubsBase for winning Startups of The Year. SubsBase allows businesses to manage their subscribers, automate recurring billings, set pricing plans, and monitor subscription KPIs. Tunis, Tunisia Come one, come all! Witness the greatness of yet another wonderful startup in the #SOTY. Thank you... VYND for providing a fully integrated digital platform to help venue owners better serve their customers and grow their businesses. Stellenbosch, South Africa BankTech connects clients to a payment network where it provides a convenient interface to meet various payments needs. You’ve won #SOTY proudly! Pretoria #SOTY acknowledges... Grays Pharmaceuticals Thank you for all you do. Lekki, Nigeria Middletrust provides reliable escrow services in Africa. Congratulations on winning a #SOTY medal. Addis Ababa Thank you... Hello Solar for consistently accelerating sustainable energy solutions, especially for remote communities. With half of the votes cast, you beat the odds. Accra, Ghana UT Bank Ghana provides various commercial banking services to individuals and companies in Ghana. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of financial services to humankind. #SOTY is proud of all you do. Gîza, Egypt Big congratulations to... HOVO for winning this award. Your on-demand mobile app for ordering trucks is truly appreciated! Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo Congratulations for coming out on top of #SOTY, SillonBlue Technologies As an ICT Consulting and SaaS company, SillonBlue Technologies focuses on software and mobile app development, and data collection. Yaba, Nigeria With more than half of the votes cast, this nominee conquered undisputedly. Let’s give it up for... Kuda a no-fee full-service digital bank making banking affordable for all Africans on the planet. Morocco City Almes provides infrastructure and logistics services. Congratulations on earning a #SOTY medal. Dakar ShopMeAway provides families and businesses with new ways to shop around the world with reduced shipping costs. You deserve the plaudits you’ve received! Casablanca Sheaply provides crowd shipping and crowd shopping solutions. This reduces cost and improves efficiency on shipping and shopping. Congratulations on winning a #SOTY medal. Nguru, Nigeria Accounting for 88% of the votes, TradeBuza wins #SOTY almost flawlessly. TradeBuza is a tech-enabled commodities sourcing platform for commodities aggregators and out-grower schemes. Ikeja, Nigeria PropertyPro Nigeria is now pronounced Startup of the Year in Ikeja. Let’s admit, who doesn’t appreciate a platform built to search for real estate properties? Ibadan, Nigeria No Bank, No Problem! (That’s probably not their motto, by the way) Shield Finders is a fintech and financial service provider to the unbanked. Congratulation on winning most of the votes! 6 October City, Egypt Wuilt is a website builder where you can create your own Arabic website in under 5 minutes. Thank you for making this technology accessible to people. One #SOTY medal for you! Algiers The only nominee who outvoted all others, please give it up for... Yassir Thank you for providing convenient transport services using your app. Enugu In an area that usually suffers from inconsistent electricity, Greenage comes to the rescue with their green cape and spandex suit. Greenage Technologies is a Nigerian startup solving electricity problems in Nigeria using solar energy technology. Congrats, Greenage. Abeokuta, Nigeria A government organization creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and the unemployed - no one deserves the title Startup of The Year better than Ogun Innovate Congratulations! Ariana And the award goes to... E-Stores Factory a web platform that helps rent and manage e-shops for enterprises seeking to sell online. Thank you for making the (not a typo) more friendly! e-cosystem Benin City Health really is wealth. MOBicure provides mobile technology solutions for Africa's biggest health problems. Thank you for all you do. From #SOTY with love <3 Centurion GameZBoost offers white label gaming platforms, including online desktop solutions, fully responsive mobile and social platforms. Thank you for making the world a more fun place! Gaborone Augmenta Cyber Security provides services in cyber security, safe data storage, SCADA security, SAP Security, etc. Congratulations on winning 10/10 of the votes. You rock! Garki There can never be enough medical platforms in the world. Congratulations to... Wella Health an operator of a healthcare technology company intended to provide treatments and medicines for malaria. Thank you for all you do! Lilongwe Yellow is a digital platform enabling informal merchants in Africa. #SOTY welcomes you to its hall of fame. Make yourself at home ;) Luanda Access to finance is important for any company or sector to succeed. And no other company deserves the title Startup of The Year more than Deya the first Angolan and PALOP crowdfunding platform that aims to increase access to financing for social impact causes and entrepreneurs. . 10/10 will recommend Mombasa Life can be hard, and so a little humor helps ease these hardships. Congratulations to this political satire puppet show, The XYZ Show for winning #SOTY. Thanks for putting smiles on our faces. Port Louis Town Bet you’ve never heard of a Smartcup. Thanks to Intellicup that exists now, and therefore earns this startup a #SOTY badge.  Intellicup is a unique high-speed beverage dispensing solution with integrated smart technology. While this cup won’t be able to wake you up in the morning, you have to agree that it’s still pretty impressive. Rabat Atlan Space is a startup building AI to autonomously pilot any fixed-wing drone, to monitor and take measures over very large areas. You deserve the #SOTY medal. Réunion Imagine having the power to do ultrasound scans on your handheld device. OSCULT by Oscadi is a handheld ultrasound imaging device interfaced with the Apple iPad. Congratulations on making it into the #SOTY! Somerset West Winning the award fair and square is Sticitt a cashless payment platform that is also aimed at teaching learners at school the basics of finance. The future of the world would be in good hands when our children know how to adequately manage finances. Thank you for saving the world in advance. Thika Flowers make the world a beautiful place to live in. Wilmar Flowers exports summer flowers grown by small and medium-sized farmers from Kenya. Kudos for making the world beautiful, #SOTY is honored to have you in our Hall of Fame. Kampala, Uganda Yo-Waste Limited is an African startup that provides waste, recycling and “smart city” solutions to businesses and governments. Your #SOTY gold medal shines as much as you do <3 Harare, Zimbabwe The world is becoming more and more digital every day. Thanks to companies like Golix that provide services of digital currencies for people in Africa, the digitization of the world is becoming more robust. Freetown Easy Solar is a distribution company making energy, durable goods and financial services affordable and accessible through pay-as-you-go tech. Thumbs up! Kicukiro FOODLINE specializes in non-genetically-modified grocery farming and production lines. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! #SOTY Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo Startups Nuru is a renewable and environmental company that specializes in the fields of storage micro-grids and solar energy. After racking up all the votes, #SOTY honors you. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire Digitech provides a fully integrated and cloud-based InsurTech platform to incumbent insurance companies. You are awesome! Durban Security can never really be enough. We’d like to honor Blue Security the title Startup of The Year, for specializing in the installation and monitoring of intruder detection systems, and in providing armed response services. Ikoyi And the Startup of The year goes to... Winich Farms an Agritech Startup leveraging tech to connect rural farmers to Finance & Market, thus, increasing productivity and cutting post-harvest loss. You rock! Lomé The last recipient of #SOTY in Africa calls for... Gozem a transport technology platform for Francophone West and Central Africa. Thank you for providing a platform for transportation. We are honored to have you! *Winners missing from this list will be added accordingly. More Information If you’re a winner, please answer ! If you’re a reader, participant, just a curious individual, consider answering one of our interviews . this interview here Read the FAQs about or . Startups here here To see all of the winners you may visit , pick any city and view the name that appears at the top. this site If you’re interested in partnering with us, we invite you to look through some of these or reach out to our business department. unique sponsorship options Perhaps creating your very own tickles your fancy or maybe you have a whole new idea for how we can partner! writing contest Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Startups Awards are sponsored by: , , , , , , , , , , Blockster Brex FreeCodeCamp LaunchDarkly Coil Udacity Udemy Vercel Asia Pacific Transgender Network Bybit Everscale Network This post was written and edited by Kien Dao and Joshua Omale. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to report a discrepancy please email ellen@hackernoon.com.

What are the Top Startups in Africa?

First off, if you can afford the time and money to go to a university for a computer science program, in my opinion, you should definitely go to a university. Going for an undergrad will most likely be one of the best growth years of your life. You will meet and learn from amazing people; your perspectives will change, you will have a lot of personal growth. Going to university will also open up the possibility for you to pursue graduate programs if research is your thing. However, there are other options too. Let’s explore. Problem-solving, problem-solving, problem-solving Developers are problem solvers. They might be solving problems for businesses, charities, governments, the earth, or their own defined problems. Almost everything in the modern world uses technology that is programmed. Even the technology that is mechanical, was built by a problem solver. The only thing that changes is the tools these problem-solvers use. For developers, the toolkit consists of different ways a machine can be instructed to do something. Being able to provide those instructions is what developers do. For developers, writing code can become muscle memory, like speaking in your native language, simply writing code is not where we problem solve. Like poetry, solutions designed by programmers are creative. This creativity can be expressed by writing code, or even by creating a visual diagram. In fact, software engineers may not even be writing as much code in the future but use platforms to create solutions. no code As you progress in your career as a developer, you will probably write less code and solve complex problems at a high level without worrying about the low-level details. So the really useful skill is being able to problem-solve with the resources that are available to you. Some examples are, you can create a website today by writing code and then figuring out how to share it with the world (hosting), or use an existing solution like to create your websites. Based on the requirements of my clients, I suggest different solutions, I problem-solve with the tools available. When you are designing large systems, imagine social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, they have a million more complicated problems due to the scale and complexities. webflow A person or team designing large-scale systems has to think about millions or even billions of people using their software, and it has to meet all their needs. So the problem-solving techniques and tools become very different. So why did I repeat this term problem-solving so much? It's because you need problem-solving instincts before you learn how to write code. That's where comes into the picture. Learnly How does Learnly help? A lot of online courses and bootcamps promise this "0-100 become an expert in X". Only people who have natural  problem-solving abilities or have developed the skill succeed in these bootcamps, courses, and universities. Universities are usually so fast-paced, people who don't have this skill develop drop out. My first programming class at university had 3 sections of 400 people, while my last year had 1 section of 40 people. In some cases, these online courses that promise 0-100 are usually for experienced developers that just picking up another language/tool. The most important skill set that's missing even with university graduates, is solving the problem the way. So even if you are going for an undergrad program, Learnly will help you develop a strong base that you can build on in university too! right right With , the goal is to first teach problem-solving and then how to express those solutions in code. Unlike other programs and courses, students at Learnly may not be writing their first line of code until a couple of weeks into the program. With problem-solving at the heart of the program,  it is taught throughout the program: from being able to translate your thoughts into code, learning techniques to quickly pick up new programming languages, comparing multiple solutions, all the way to be able to pick the technology to solve the problem at hand. You will also learn the necessary resource optimization skills that are usually skipped by online programs. Learnly right One of the biggest benefits of joining Learnly right now is that it's in pilot mode, so your progress is monitored by a human to make sure you are progressing well. You can schedule 1:1 sessions for anything that you don't understand. Your feedback will also help to shape Learnly for the future generation of problem solvers! Thanks for reading.

You Cannot Learn Coding without Problem-Solving Skills

In mid-January 2022, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) announced the outage of their central bank digital currency (CBDC), also known as Dcash. American-based Bitt helped the ECCB launch Dcash in , following up with a launch in of Nigeria's e-Naira. March 2021 October 2021 Since that time, Bitt has also launched a pilot electronic hryvnia test with Ukraine's TASCOMBANK in , while also unveiling NBB Pay, a stablecoin and digital payments infrastructure, for the National Bank of Belize in . December 2021 December 2021 While Bitt's success has helped to bring decentralized finance (DeFi) to many individuals in these nations, its recent Dcash outage is particularly concerning given the critically important nature of a CBDC. Without the ability to complete transactions, users on the Dcash platform are left in significant limbo, with this situation raising unique questions for legislators. It is essential for CBDCs to preserve the defining features of physical money, which includes the need to be constantly available in an offline format and to ensure consumer data privacy. With this in mind, what are some of the policy implications that government officials and central bankers can focus on to mitigate concerns over similar outages throughout CBDC networks? Cybersecurity concerns The stability of a CBDC must be one of the highest priorities for regulators. In this respect, protecting a CBDC's infrastructure from both internal and external threats should be top-of-mind for regulators. Cybersecurity risks and concerns must be integrated into contingencies associated with protecting CBDCs, with these values being validated in pilot-test CBDC frameworks. This type of advance testing will help ensure maximum flexibility in the event of any outage, such as Dcash's current failure, particularly in the case of a cybersecurity event. The implications of a cyberattack by a threat actor on a CBDC would be extremely damaging for any economy regardless of scale, particularly as payment continuity is simply a necessity for any national-level CBDC. If taken offline for even a brief period, a CBDC outage similar to the current Dcash situation might invoke a currency collapse because of it being a single point of failure, with significant implications during and after such an event. Additionally, a CBDC outage would also undoubtedly decrease consumer confidence in that specific medium of exchange, thereby reducing the influence and credibility of that central bank in this instance. Risk management operations The current Dcash outage also raises concerns over establishing contingency operations in the event of a specific CBDC outage. While there is currently no particular standard for establishing risk management operations for CBDCs, , including ISO/IEC 27005:2008, BB 7799-3:2006, and NIST SP 800-39 could be particularly applicable in establishing contingencies in the event of such an outage. general information technology standards Properly identifying, estimating, and evaluating risks must be integrated into CBDC development. Having proper governance response procedures to help manage such risks in the future will be essential for central banks to implement if moving forward with CBDC platforms. Industry standardization and development The high number of existing CBDC technologies presents a wide variety of different vendors for CBDCs, with some examples including Bitt's usage of for the ECCB, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority picking for Project Inthanon-LionRock, and Bhutan selecting for its CBDC project. IBM's Hyperledger Fabric ConsenSys Ripple Ensuring interoperability between different CBDCs is a specific policy issue that must be addressed given the growing CBDC development market. Additionally, reserve currencies must be considered for use in the event of a CBDC outage, thus potentially creating conflicts between primary and alternate CBDC platforms. Launching a CBDC would also transfer a high amount of critical technology risks to the government, and eventually, taxpayers. With this in mind, the ever-developing nature of blockchain and other emergent technologies present challenges for governments to test, regulate, and implement. It will be interesting to see how the public and private sectors interact in regards to supporting these types of technologies, particularly with these technologies having critical national security implications. In this case, protecting the public prominence of money is a must for governments and regulators, something that might present a significant challenge due to technology's pace of innovation. Conclusion All in all, the ECCB's Dcash outage provides central bankers, governments, and technology providers with the opportunity to reflect on the challenges emerging from system outages and failures. Addressing cybersecurity concerns, implementing risk management operations, and ensuring continued pace with developments in emerging technologies is important for regulators to incorporate into their CBDC pilot-tests and eventual programs. Ensuring proper governance over CBDCs and establishing legislation for specific issues like data privacy will also be necessary for regulators as CBDCs become increasingly prominent in the age of Web 3.0.

Policy Implications Stemming from the ECCB's CBDC outage

The EU Vaccination passport has arrived! The company has worked around the clock for the past few weeks to ensure millions of Germans were able to enjoy a summer of free movement. UBIRCH The vaccination certificate looks like a simple QR code on paper yet a lot of technology went into making sure to secure the personal data, make it accessible to only authorized users, and also hard to fake. In a geared towards CTOs, Matthias Jugel, the CTO of UBIRCH shared what went into the technology and explained how to simply decode the content of the QR-Code. podcast The EU Vaccine Program The German vaccination pass is based on the protocols defined by the for its member states. European Union regarding vaccine certificates When you get your shot you create a little dataset which contains your personal information, your name, and your birth date, for example, and also some information about the actual vaccination: the manufacturer; product id of the shot; the date when you got your shot and which shot in a series of doses. The EU also has on how this data set should be handled. It needs to be put into a binary representation which is then signed using a cryptographic key material. Anyone with the public key can now verify that it's authentic. protocols This is then compressed and encoded into base-45- which is known to be very efficient in combination with QR codes. The base-45 text representation is then put into a QR code which is printed and has your code and your pass. The complete chain is: base45 > zlib > COSE object -> CBOR binary representation This method is different from a JW token because it's a bit smaller. A JWT is encoded base-64, purely text-based and it's not compressed in itself. This means it cannot contain as much information in the same amount of data basically so it's very big in the end. Still, someone has to take care of converting the dataset into a signed piece of data. Therefore, UBIRCH provides a service in which they receive the data, transform it, sign it, and then hand back something that can be either printed in a QR code or printed as a PDF document. This is all done through the vaccination centers. Decoding your own Green Pass Even though legally only authorised personnel should be checking the contents of the QR code, you can still check what's inside your own QR code from a technical standpoint. You won't be able to perform signature verification though as access to the public keys is not officially available. So the below code is only for nerds who want to know what data is encoded in their QR code. 1. Use a QR-Code reader to get the content of your own QR-Code. Browser-based one is : here Here is a sample QR code of a fictional person that we will be using for this example HC1: BFNX1:HM*I0PS3TLU.NGMU5AG8JKM:SF9VN1RFBIKJ: AXL1RR+ ::N$OAG+RC4NKT1:P4 GH40HD* UIHJIDB N* R7C*MCV+ AY :YP*YVNUHC.G-NFPIR6UBRRQL9K5%L4.Q* NBHP95R*QFLNUDTQH-GYRN2FMGO73ZG6ZTJZC:$ $MTZUF2A81R9NEBTU2Y437XCI9DU S3N%JRP:HPE3$ QJ+UJVGYLJIMPI% +YSUXHB42VE5M44%IJLX0SYI7BU+EGCSHG:AQ+ CEN RAXI:D53H8EA0+WAI9M8JC0D0S% PO00DJAPE3 GZZB:X85Y8345MOLUZ3+HT0TRS76MW2O CGL EQ5AI.XM5 LCWBA.RE.-SUYH+S7SBE0%B-KT+YSMFCLTQQQ6LEHG.P46UNL6DA2C$AF-SQ00A58HYO5:M8 S$ULGC-IP49MZCS
U8ST3HDRJNPV3UJADJ9BVV: K13B4WQ+DCTEG4V8OT09797FZMQ3/A7DU0 D148IDZ%UDR9CYF 6 3 8 .33 98 4 2 1 3 4986 0 4 435 2 58 8 .0 01 7 7 .3 2. Create a Python file with the following code and save as decode.py json sys zlib base45 cbor2 cose.messages CoseMessage
 
payload = sys.argv[ ][ :]
print( + payload) decoded = base45.b45decode(payload) decompressed = zlib.decompress(decoded) cose = CoseMessage.decode(decompressed) print(json.dumps(cbor2.loads(cose.payload), indent= )) #! /usr/bin/env python3 import import import import import from import 1 4 "decoding payload: " # decode Base45 (remove HC1: prefix) # decompress using zlib # decode COSE message (no signature verification done) # decode the CBOR encoded payload and print as json 2 3. Install all libraries required to use the example code: pip3 install cryptography==2.8
pip3 install cose
pip3 install cbor2
pip3 install base45 4. Execute the python file python3 decode.py 'HC1:6BFNX1:HM*I0PS3TLU.NGMU5AG8JKM:SF9VN1RFBIKJ:3AXL1RR+ 8::N$OAG+RC4NKT1:P4.33GH40HD*98UIHJIDB 4N*2R7C*MCV+1AY3:YP*YVNUHC.G-NFPIR6UBRRQL9K5%L4.Q*4986NBHP95R*QFLNUDTQH-GYRN2FMGO73ZG6ZTJZC:$0$MTZUF2A81R9NEBTU2Y437XCI9DU 4S3N%JRP:HPE3$ 435QJ+UJVGYLJIMPI%2+YSUXHB42VE5M44%IJLX0SYI7BU+EGCSHG:AQ+58CEN RAXI:D53H8EA0+WAI9M8JC0D0S%8PO00DJAPE3 GZZB:X85Y8345MOLUZ3+HT0TRS76MW2O.0CGL EQ5AI.XM5 01LCWBA.RE.-SUYH+S7SBE0%B-KT+YSMFCLTQQQ6LEHG.P46UNL6DA2C$AF-SQ00A58HYO5:M8 7S$ULGC-IP49MZCSU8ST3HDRJNPV3UJADJ9BVV:7K13B4WQ+DCTEG4V8OT09797FZMQ3/A7DU0.3D148IDZ%UDR9CYF' 5. This is what the output would look like: { : , // issuing country : , // expires at : , // issued at : { : { : [
        { : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : , : }
      ], : , : { : , : , : , : }, : }
  }
} "1" "DE" "4" 1655209933 "6" 1623673933 "-260" "1" "v" "ci" "URN:UVCI:01DE/IZ12345A/21E0JXD7UQY6ECLM3WT7YF#8" "co" "DE" "dn" 2 "dt" "2021-04-01" "is" "Robert Koch-Institut" "ma" "ORG-100031184" "mp" "EU/1/20/1507" "sd" 2 "tg" "840539006" "vp" "1119349007" "dob" "1964-08-12" "nam" "fn" "Mustermann" "gn" "Erika" "fnt" "MUSTERMANN" "gnt" "ERIKA" "ver" "1.0.0" The Verification of Vaccination Passes - Offline However, the actual verification can all be done offline - to fit with the requirements of the EU. The corona apps deal with the verification of such passes - without needing the internet. Verification is done entirely through the phone. The apps get the public keys and verify the signature, and then depending on the intended usage, they might present you the content of the QR code - the data that's actually in there. There are 2 types of apps available. The official app for authorised personnel and the official app for the public. CovPass Check App for Authorised Personnel The official app was made to allow free travel in the EU. It is meant to be used when you cross a border or when checked abroad by police or by somebody who would like to know whether you're allowed to be there. This information contains personal data and that is why the official app - that can access all the data contained in the QR code is for authorised personnel only. The official CovPass app for Public Use You can get an authorised app from the app store which will tell you whether the scanned QR code is valid. The idea behind it is to present as little personal information as possible, to protect the privacy of everyone involved. Using Blockchain to verify Vaccine Passes - Online For their pilot-solution which has been applied in two German counties, UBIRCH used blockchain technology to make vaccine passes verifiable for authenticity and integrity in a decentral manner. People in the vaccination center fill in a web form with their details: name, date of birth, vaccination date, what type - all the data that the EU wants to collect. Upon submit, this information is hashed together with a salt - making it anonymous The hash is sent to the backend where it is anchored in the blockchain A URL is generated containing all the data provided in the webform A QR is also created which when scanned will display the data captured by the webform If someone wants to just validate the URL, they can go to the URL, it is decoded and a hash is sent to the server and a response is sent back whether it's valid with a signature. UBIRCH still uses blockchain technology in other use cases. However, in close collaboration with the customer and in line with final EU requirements another approach for the implementation of the digital COVID-certificate in Germany was chosen. This article was based on an alphalist podcast episode. The alphalist podcast features interviews of CTOs and other technical leadership figures and topics range from technology to management. Guests from leading tech companies share their best practices and knowledge. The goal is to support other CTOs on their journey through tech and engineering, inspire and allow a sneak-peek into other successful companies to understand how they think and act. Get awesome insights into the world‘s top tech companies, personalities and trends by listening today on Apple , Spotify , Google , Deezer and more. If you are a CTO of tech-product company, perhaps you would be interested in joining -an exclusive CTO network? Reach out to us for more information. alphalist

How to Decode Your Own EU Vaccination Green Pass With a Few Lines of Python

Cómo decodificar su propio pase verde de vacunación de la UE con unas pocas líneas de Python

Getting into DCS World isn’t easy. The tactics, knowledge, and skill to fly the combat flight simulator’s aircraft take commitment and practice to learn. Getting into multiplayer servers might require you to understand military jargon and communication protocol. But before any of that even matters, you still need a module to get started in the game. Picking the right aircraft can be a surprisingly difficult process which this DCS World buyer’s guide might be helpful with. DCS World’s E-Shop and Steam page are both full modules, maps and campaigns, making it difficult to find the simulator’s best modern aircraft. We’ve broken up the fixed-wing jet aircraft into their eras and mission sets to help narrow down the aircraft. We’ve left out the modules made for Flaming Cliffs 3 and the trainer jets as the former aren’t simulated to the same degree as these modules and the latter were never meant to compete with actual fighter jets. DCS World’s Modern Multirole Fighters The modules that easily have the most value-for-money are DCS World’s simulations of modern multirole fighters. Aircraft like the F-16C, F/A-18C, JF-17 and Mirage 2000C fit this bill. These modules, taking after their real-life counterparts, are capable of doing a bit of everything even if they don’t specialise in it. F-16C Fighting Falcon The Fighting Falcon or Viper has been used for everything from Air-to-Air combat, Close Air Support, Precision Attack and Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD). DCS World recognises this by letting it carry pretty much any weapon that you need it to. It can carry targeting pods for precision-guided weapons, guided and unguided bombs and anti-radar HARMs for attacking ground targets. It can take air-to-air missiles for dogfighting and beyond-visual-range combat. Basically, it’s flexible enough to let you try everything DCS has to offer. The cockpit is one of the most advanced in the simulator, full of displays to sift through. It makes the aircraft as much an exercise in operating electronics as much as it is an exercise in pilot skill. For some, it might be the appeal of the fighter but for those who want a more traditional experience, the added complexity may be a dealbreaker. F/A-18C Hornet The Hornet’s similar to the Viper in that it can do everything the Viper can. It’s got the came capacity for running just about every mission type under the sun thanks to its real-world versatility. It’s got an almost identical array of weapons to attach and the ability to have targeting pods. It’s an older module, letting it have more advanced systems than the Viper, too. What sets it apart from the F-16, though, is its nature as a carrier-borne aircraft. Unlike its Air Force counterpart, the F/A-18 can participate in carrier takeoffs and landings. You get to experience getting shot off the deck on a steam catapult and attempt extremely difficult carrier landings. Like the F-16, the Hornet is one of DCS’ most modern fighters. There’ll be a lot of digging through MFDs and getting settings done just right. JF-17 Thunder This Pakistani jet isn’t the most well-known aircraft in the world but that didn’t stop Deka Ironwork Simulations from making this incredible module. It can do most missions that the two planes above can, just with different weapons with many of the same general methods. There is a lot of fishing around MFDs to properly use its weapons but thanks to its origin as a Pakistani jet, many of the quirks and exact methods are different from its American counterparts. This jet is roughly analogous to the Viper in terms of mission sets and the fact that it cannot conduct carrier operations. Mirage 2000C This multirole delta-wing fighter isn’t as modern as the other fighters in this category. It doesn’t have a targeting pod and doesn’t have a cockpit as awash with MFDs as the others. However, it is highly capable both in an air-to-air role and air-to-ground. One notable aspect that stopped it from being included in the section below is the Mirage’s two 30mm cannons. These weapons grant it a uniquely powerful method of engaging ground targets outside of precision explosives. DCS World’s Late Cold War Air-to-Air fighters Not all of the late Cold War’s fighters got to be modernised with the advanced technology the multirole fighters had. The MiG 29 Fulcrum and F-14 Tomcat are two such examples. These aircraft can use “dumb” bombs for ground attack but aren’t as flexible as their modern counterparts. MiG-29 Fulcrum This Russian-made jet was meant to hold its own against the F-15C Eagle and F-14 Tomcat. It goes fast, sees far with its radar and can use a bunch of different missiles to shoot down enemy aircraft. One of the MiG-29’s unique features is the presence of an Infrared Search and Track system. It’s one of the few aircraft in DCS that uses it which might be appealing to you, if you know how to use it. When it comes to air-to-ground, there’s not much to see. The aircraft provides the pilot with some guidance with using weapons such as HUD modes that help aim the bombs and some options for how to release them but nothing like the aircraft above. F-14 Tomcat The Tomcat might be one of the most famous combat aircraft ever made. Featured heavily in Top Gun, this Navy fighter was designed from the outset to fight aircraft. It goes fast, turns well and carries a lot of missiles, including the then state-of-the-art AIM-54 Phoenix. This module is particularly interesting for two reasons. Like the Hornet, the Tomcat is capable of operating off a carrier with the help of a steam catapult and arresting wires. These are the only two aircraft to allow this kind of operation. The other reason is the presence of a second seat. A Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) sits in the back and is responsible for managing the systems needed to use the Tomcat’s longer-reaching weapons. This translates into the possibility of having a second player in the back and the possibility of using computer-controlled crewmates. Referencing Top Gun, the RIO goes by Jester and the pilot goes by Iceman. The Tomcat is the only fighter to allow this degree of cooperation and the only one to have AI crewmates. DCS World’s Mid Cold War Air-to-Air fighters Flying these jets generally entails a tiny selection of air to air missiles, early and finicky radars and a more traditional cockpit than more modern jets. While the two jets in this category aren’t top of the line fighters, air combat between the two isn’t as technical as BVR between the modern fighters. MiG-21bis Something of a living fossil in the modern age, the MiG-21bis is older than the MiG-29 and has the avionics to match. Its instruments are primitive in comparison and it looks barely out of the Korean War. This aircraft is capable of the same missions as the MiG-29 with the exception that its hardware is older. It can be an interesting module if you want to experience air combat from an older age but the MiG-21bis doesn’t have anything fancy. Except nukes. It comes with simulated nukes, if you want to mess around with those. F-5E Tiger II The F-5E was never the fastest jet of its time nor was it the most heavily armed. Still, it’s a capable fighter that can mount heat-seeking missiles and some early laser-guided bombs. As a module, it lets players experience an older style of air combat and conduct a wide range of missions. DCS World’s Early Cold War Air-to-Air fighters Before pilots focused on Beyond Visual Range combat, they flew by the seat of their pants, struggling to shoot their foes down with guns or took their chances with unreliable missiles. This early era of jet combat exists in DCS thanks to the modules focused on older aircraft like the F-86 Sabre and MiG-15. It’s worth noting that these aircraft don’t have the same variety in mission sets as their more advanced counterparts. By virtue of everything being simpler, these modules offer you less. Still if you want to explore this era of air combat, the highly detailed cockpits and flight models will be more than enough. F-86 Sabre The Sabre is relatively simple, armed with guns and a pair of bombs for ground attack. Like the other modules, it has a well-rendered, fully interactive cockpit and realistic flight. MiG-15bis The MiG-15bis is roughly analogous to the F-86. It’s got about the same features, with combat being based around its guns and the module featuring a great simulation of the aircraft. MiG-19P Farmer The Farmer is like a MiG-15bis except that it’s supersonic, has an enhanced ground-attack capability thanks to its rockets and air-to-air missiles. DCS World’s Air-to-Ground Attackers If flying against another aircraft and pushing the envelope isn’t quite what you want, a dedicated Air-to-Ground aircraft might suit you better. DCS World has plenty of ground targets to blow up from tanks to buildings. Just like in real life, there are aircraft specialised in dropping warheads on foreheads. A-10C II This is the one with the famous gun. You know, the one that the plane was built around. There’s no denying that the A-10 is really good at destroying ground targets, something that this DCS module replicates in great detail. It carries just about every ground attack weapon imaginable and has the systems on board to use them effectively. It’s also got a particularly in-depth simulation of managing its stores, which adds a level of realism absent in the other modules. It also comes with an interactive Forward Air Controller on the radio. It’s not part of the aircraft but FACs are an important part of the A-10’s Close Air Support role as they are responsible for identifying targets for the planes and directing them onto the target if necessary. AV-8B Harrier The Harrier is most famous for being able to take off and land vertically, a feature most definitely included in the DCS module. It’s got a unique control scheme that allows it to hover like a helicopter shortly after flying like a conventional jet. There’s no other aircraft capable of this in DCS. While it is capable of using some air-to-air missiles, it’s mostly focused on being able to blow up ground targets. It’s got a good array of bombs, both of the guided and unguided variety, air-to-ground missiles and rocket pods to help with this. This variant of the Harrier has a number of features intended to help it operate at night which are included in the module, yet another unique feature this module has. AJS-37 Viggen As far as planes go, the Viggen is up there as one of the stranger aircraft. Most aircraft aim to fly high and fast or low and slow. The Viggen, on the other hand, is designed to go low and fast. With a unique mixture of autopilot and ground-following radar, it is designed to fly as little as 10 meters above the ground. It’s the only jet in DCS that flies like that and the only jet that uses its unique arsenal of Swedish weapons which handle differently than conventional weapons. It’s also able to hold its own in air-to-air combat thanks to its speed. If you’re still undecided after finishing this DCS World Buyer’s Guide Each aircraft has its own quirks and characteristics that make them unique. If you don’t know what you want to do but just want to experience DCS, the Hornet will get you through most content. If you want to go in for guns on air targets but use a jet, the Sabre or MiG-15bis will probably suit you best. If you want to blow up ground targets, the A-10 is the one for you. If you can’t decide, go for the coolest looking one and hope for the best. There are also free weekends that let you try out all the modules if you would like a demo. More In Gaming: The Problem With Live Service Games Sword Reverie is a Bright Beginning for VR JRPGs The Best Mass Effect 3 Mods in 2021 Thanks for reading! To keep up to date with all the latest in gaming, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter in the footer below!

DCS World Buyer’s Guide

Guía del comprador mundial de DCS

Headless commerce technology has received and is powering cutting-edge e-commerce applications. With headless commerce, separating the frontend of an application from the backend gives brands and retailers greater flexibility in how they create digital shopping experiences. Platforms like Shopify Plus offer headless capabilities, but the real magic is in . $1.6 billion in funding modular commerce technology Commerce modules, also called , are dedicated pieces of commerce functionality including cart, pricing, promotions, items, orders, shipping, payments, and more. These are what Amazon used to grow from a simple online bookstore to a massive online marketplace. But before adopting modular commerce, Amazon had to break down its into distinct modules, also known as a service-oriented architecture. commerce microservices monolithic bookstore application When I joined Amazon in 2002, this initiative was well underway. But Amazon developers had to create these modules in-house. There was no commerce platform back then that could support Amazon’s new approach to architecture. IBM Websphere, Oracle ATG, and were all monolithic. They were good platforms at the time, but rigid and hard to customize. other enterprise commerce platforms Shopify Plus Emerges A few years later, with an all-in-one e-commerce platform for SMBs in 2006. Up until this point, e-commerce platforms only existed for enterprises as on-premise software. With Shopify, anyone could market and sell products online. It was truly revolutionary. But then Shopify wanted more. It aimed to take a slice of the enterprise pie with . Shopify emerged from private beta Shopify Plus in 2014 Shopify Plus offered higher levels of support, increased API access, the ability to customize templated checkouts, a script editor, . This was a nice idea for upselling and diversifying revenue streams, but it failed to solve the big problem: scale. At the end of the day, Shopify Plus was—and still is—Shopify with some window dressing. It’s a monolithic platform like the legacy platforms that came before it. and more Shopify Plus plateaus People are starting to see through the facade of Shopify Plus and it shows in the numbers. Since Shopify Plus’s contribution of 17% to total MRR in 2017, growth has stagnated. In 2018, Shopify Plus contributed to . In 2019, it contributed to . And in 2020 it contributed to . Shopify equates this dip to a “significantly higher number of merchants on standard plans joining the platform in 2020.” But there’s more to it than that. 25% of MRR 27% MRR 25% MRR One reason it’s plateauing is that Shopify does not support modern commerce architectures. In early 2017, Shopify had to make a similar decision as Amazon: keep its monolith or move to microservices. Unlike Amazon, . This was easier for the engineering team but provided no value to customers. Shopify Plus customers would continue on the track of technical debt, vendor lock-in, and an unscalable, Shopify-dependent future. Shopify decided to keep its monolith Using hacks to remain relevant Shopify is trying to dress the platform up as a “modular monolith,” but all one has to do is look at the Isolating Dependencies section of to see that it’s hacked together. It’s hacked together like Shopify Plus. For instance, the hacks around the problem of dependencies within pricing, promo, and cart services. this article Scripts feature In the end, a monolith is a monolith and limits growth. The same goes for , trying to make a case like Shopify against microservices. BigCommerce Enterprise that’s hiding behind headless commerce As the former CTO of Staples where we moved from a monolithic commerce platform to a service-oriented architecture to scale, I can tell you first-hand that monolithic commerce platforms and hacking around technical debt does not work. When I joined Staples, we were using IBM Websphere. Creating short-term hacks would have been easier but would not have let us and completely own the buying experience. scale from 200,000 to over one million SKUs Hacks limit growth The of Shopify Plus have real implications for brands needing to grow. Shopify Plus’ ease of use is great for getting started, but these limitations become critical as a brand grows and needs customization and innovation to make the next step. Below are some of the biggest restrictions for brands and retailers that want to scale. technical limitations Headless hacks I see Shopify’s headless offering at its last stand to remain relevant. Shopify Plus is merely doing what all commerce platforms do, even the legacy platforms like Oracle ATG: exposing APIs. This hack allows retailers to customize the frontend, but . Store owners need to use rigid code integrations from the Shopify App Store to add backend functionality and integrating backend tools can cause problems for the Shopify Plus API. the backend is still problematic Multi-location mismanagement Whether you’re working with national stores and locations or international expansion, . Although linking multiple domains is easy, Shopify Plus is restrictive in the way store owners can manage storefronts at different locations. This means that running different brands or catalogs from one backend is almost impossible. Shopify Plus doesn't allow for configurable tenancy options because it’s rooted in the same principles as Shopify of being multitenant. This is great for small businesses but not so much for mid-market and enterprise. Shopify Plus is too restrictive Payment gateway nightmares Although small-scale merchants find a necessary evil for managing payments online, SMEs will struggle with Shopify controlling when and how they get paid. This is a prime example of vendor lock-in. When you sign up to use this monolithic platform, you have to use their payment gateway. Payment delays lead to delays in service delivery and store owners will face similar problems with frontend functionality, backend customization, and overall growth control. Shopify Plus’ payment delays Hacks and limitations in the wild A good way to see the results of Shopify Plus hacks and limitations is to compare Shopify Plus’s flagship customer, , with which uses a service-oriented architecture. Because Staples CA has thrown its hat in with Shopify Plus, they are hostages to a monolithic platform in the same way. Staples CA Staples US When comparing the digital storefronts, you’ll notice that Staples US is dynamic and escapes Staples CA’s standard grid layout. The Staples US checkout is also customized to include custom delivery options: delivery time, assembly options, and purchase protection. Meanwhile, Staples CA is locked into Shopify’s standard checkout offering. But the most alarming difference is the difference in page speed. According to PageSpeed Insights , Staples CA receives a 43 PSI score: Staples US receives a 99 PSI score: Given what we know about , using Shopify Plus for an enterprise like Staples is simply irresponsible. Of course, Staples CA could try to work around CMS limitations with headless options like , or hack around Shopify API limitations with the shim layer of APIs offered by . But at the end of the day, these are just workarounds, not scalable solutions. page speed’s impact on e-commerce conversions Shogun Nacelle E-commerce monoliths are fated Monolithic commerce platforms become single points of failure because they are closed systems requiring specialized knowledge to program a process or business logic inside of them, whether that’s through (IBM) or other procedural code required by SAP and Oracle. This creates dependencies that are not necessary and hinder product growth. RPC Shopify Plus is similar to legacy monoliths like and but, again, dressed up to look prettier. In the case of Shopify Plus, the specialized knowledge comes in the form of Ruby on Rails and the Liquid templating language. And because they can’t fix these technical requirements, they have hopped on the headless bandwagon. Oracle ATG Salesforce Commerce Cloud Despite , a monolith is a monolith and Shopify Plus is the last attempt a big company will make at building an enterprise e-commerce monolith. The question “Remember Shopify Plus?” will soon join the ranks of: Remember IBM Websphere? Remember Oracle ATG? Shopify pushing monolithic rigidity as innovation Remember Amazon Webstore? How to sniff a monolith That said, other commerce platforms will hit the market. And with more commerce platforms emerging it will get harder to determine whether a platform is a monolith and positioned for helping you grow. To identify whether a commerce platform is monolithic and disguised as modular, modern, API-first, composable, or any of the other buzzwords, ask the following questions: Does the platform let you configure your business variables outside of code? Can services inside the platform function and be deployed independently? How easy is it to integrate these services with outside platforms or services? How easy is it to customize your data and business rules? Are you able to configure your own data stores or are you tied in with what is provided How easy is it to change a frontend concern without interrupting the backend? How easy is it to extend your functionality for different use cases across industries or domains? If you are a mid-market or enterprise business, the answer to all of these should be or . If there are unclear answers to these questions, tread lightly. While the platform may serve your immediate needs you’ll run into trouble down the road. Yes Easy Scaling with microservices A monolithic commerce platform like Shopify Plus might have been a good starting point for the sake of simplicity. But to evolve commerce you need more flexibility, security, and speed. This is what a service-oriented architecture offers. The good news is that you don't need to build all your microservices in-house like Amazon did and like we did at Staples. While building your differentiating services in-house is a good idea, you can use core commerce services and APIs from that enable growth through a service-oriented architecture. fabric Our service-oriented platform The different parts of fabric include: lets you continue using your monolith or break down your monolith while taking control of frontend shopping experiences across channels. A makes this possible. Any service with an API can communicate with the headless CMS. Experience platform: Fabric XM headless CMS make up the commerce platform. But unlike traditional platforms, you can select the APIs and services you want to use. Each API is connected to a service (payments, pricing, promos, subscriptions, cart, etc) and each service is self-contained yet extensible. Headless commerce platform: Fabric commerce APIs Applications with user interfaces let business users access the same datastores and functionality as developers do with APIs. Co-Pilot applications: Even with these cloud-native services and APIs, moving from a monolith may still seem daunting. But there’s even more good news: you can make changes to your existing commerce architecture in small increments. This is what we refer to as The End of Replatforming at fabric and we can support you in this initiative as well. Also published on: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shopify-plus-last-e-commerce-monolith-faisal-masud/

An In-Depth Look at Shopify Plus: The Last E-Commerce Monolith

Basically, this is a blueprint for a secondary economy that would start with a grassroots movement, which injects any profits back into its own organization, because its shareholders are community members or co-owners to the tune of the value they put into it, and where everyone has just one vote. The aim is to re-establish the proud worker and middle classes and turn them into valid members of our society, who by virtue of the solid wages and dividends we pay them are again able to buy homes, cars, and computers and generally provide for their families in a very comfortable way. An integrated ecosystem will be created that will be comprised of a number of organizations that feed each other. The A.C.F. would serve as an umbrella organization for the pillars of said community. The first one of these is a partly decentralized financial and business institution that is also member-owned and features a stablecoin, a fluctuating coin, and an investment arm with a corresponding business portfolio. The second will be a non-profit cultural foundation that would build first online and afterward physical museums, and that would also benefit culture in general and member artists in particular. The third is a trading platform for some of our digital currencies, for creatives' commodities, non-creative job shares, and much more. The fourth is a blockchain creatives' homeworld, with a visitors side for all things creative and entertainment in general, and a members' hive/colony where a multitude of projects would always be ongoing. These four to start with, more to follow. We would start as a sort of global credit union, but offering much more. Each region would have its own federation that works in conjunction with all the others. We work on the principle of inclusion as opposed to division. By Ourselves, For Ourselves (BOFO) After ascertaining where our traditional economy falls short, we proceeded to come up with ways where we could do better by doing it ourselves and making the software automatically distribute funds to where they are needed and to all the participants in any given project on a more equitable basis then is the case today. We are a capitalist organization with social benefits immutably built into our system. We will however have to devise a means of punishing those who would take advantage of our goodwill or commit fraud against their fellow member-owners. In each federation, an triumvirate in charge of policy will serve for five years maximum, and that will start readying its successors after three years. This body will decide policy changes if need be. However, the founding principles can not be changed. Policy guidelines will be built into the software and members of a given region will be asked to provide and vote on possible investments that follow those guidelines. Operational control issues and voting on new investments and planning for the future will be decided by all members, always taking care to adhere to the founding guidelines and possible tweaks of the governing rules by the triumvirate. If a given project proves fruitful, it will be carried over to other federations for scaling. We would create federations more or less per country and later maybe amalgamate per continent to provide a counter balance for the working and middle classes opposite the large corporations. Key Methods Key Methodology #1: P.I.F. (Paying It Forward) The financial institution called the Values Bank would pay forward twenty percent of each member's input for further job creation, and this NOT taken from the member's account but as a double issue of the digital stablecoin. This would be the singular driving engine of our addition to the existing economy. The more people can get a comfortable income, the more is spent, the more we grow. In effect, the reverse of the trickle-down philosophy, which has effectively been proven not to work for anybody but those at the very top. Key Methodology #2: Stablecoin Against Inflation The stablecoin (called Vebes) will be tethered to a spectrum of the most solid commodities available, and if one or more should fail, then the coin would simply switch to the remaining ones, this to avoid a wipe-out in case of inflation or hyperinflation. The Vebes (short for ValueBytes) will be created by adding value through a sale, where 1. the fiat ($,£, etc.-) or commodities such as gold will underwrite our currency as securities, 2. the goods go to the customer and 3. the digi-coin goes to the seller. We do not use cash, but instead focus on either paying securely online or via an app on people's phones for ambulant purchases. The securities for these stable-coins will be held indefinitely in a multitude of branches in tax havens all over the world, this to avoid impounding by dictators and so as to not put all our eggs in one basket. Taxes due the respective governments will be paid in fiat until such time as they accept our currency as payment. Every member's Vebes would be held privately in an electronic encrypted fob (e.g. Trezor), or may be put in a smart contract as a way of securing them until a later date, or can also be held in a digital encrypted account with the Vebes Bank. To the Values Bank will be attached an Investment Arm that uses (to begin with) part of the securities as seed capital, but after acceptance of our currency by the establishment we would use Vebes. Also attached will be a Business Platform for all the companies that start up using our investments, or joint project initiatives by our creatives. We should also start a micro-credits department Key Methodology #3: Decentralized Green Coin In addition, we will create a decentralized coin (called FluxCoin) for HODL (holding/saving) and trading purposes. The value of this coin will fluctuate according to demand and the markets' situations. The mining of this coin will occur in a green manner. Key Methodology #4: Host of Member Incentives. The Alliance of Credit Federations will feature a host of incentives for its members, such as an automatic double-issued IRA (Individual Retirement Account) of 5 % of the monthly input, 20 % double-issued donation of the monthly input to the Museums Foundation which would be tax-deductible. A 5 % double-issued donation of the monthly input for micro-credits to reinforce 'likes' of artworks on the Creativity Home Chain and would thus supply extra income for the artists. Members could get a credit line in the order of 20 % of their annual input and mortgages virtually at cost, with maintenance and improvements to the properties by ACF members who work in construction and would use materials manufactured by the ACF. Key Methodology #5: Our Coins as Legal Tender Key players in the traditional economy will be asked to accept our coins as legal tender. For these we will need large numbers of members who can massively petition the big players in turn until they surrender. In return; they will get all the benefits of any other member, but no additional voting rights. We could, for instance, double issue 20 % of their profit that was converted to Vebes as payment for extra wages for their employees, which is always one of the biggest operational costs for any enterprise. In case they refuse, we would have no choice but to create our own alternative to their operations. Key Methodology #6: Museums & Culture Foundation The Museums & Culture Foundation (MCF) will start by creating online museums per major city. The artworks for these digital museums will be purchased from member creatives who in turn will be asked to hold these works in trust until such date as physical museums have been built. The building of these museums will be carried out by member construction workers and designed/embellished by member creatives. Key Methodology #7: Artists' Creabyte as Commodity Each creative will offer a CreaByte which consists of their annual spare time for sale as a commodity at twice their going rate. The MCF will buy these in return for those members' labor in the museums under construction, or just to hold in reserve for use on a mutual project, or as payment for artworks, or as straightforward patronage. These CreaBytes will of course be available for purchase by the general public for future creative services, or as payment for their artworks, or as patronage for the artist Key Methodology #8: ' Culture & Entertainment World' on the Blockchain For the public part, we would start with a pilot culture and entertainment index of one major city and later iterate/scale that to everywhere else. This index would list all the museums, theaters, operas, cinemas, art galleries, member open studios (optional) with info and links to these and a planner for a morning, afternoon, evening or day out. (This list is not exhaustive!) A section for art news, such as ongoing exhibits in museums, galleries, etc. Feature stories for new projects or introducing member artists and their work. And anything else culture-related we can think of. ArtBook (like FB but for art) with member postings and links to their personal websites with the possibility for likes for artworks coupled to donations of micro-credits. We will have to find ways to make it interactive and make any visit addictive. For example Daily caption, polls, bingo?, chess club, coding club. We will let some think tanks come up with the rest! And for the private member part, we would start with an index of cultural branches and their corresponding members. A section of group members deals in art materials straight from the manufacturer. Member discounts with museums, etc. Think tanks. Forums but according to the Slack format. The Development Colony/Hive for joint projects. Directory with project files and offshoots. Peer co-marketing initiatives. Business offshoots from joint projects with links to the Investment Arm of the Values Bank.

Can There Be An Alliance of Credit Federations? 

Most of us know volunteering is good for our health. You’re giving something back, meeting people you might not otherwise meet, and possibly transforming lives. There are many things out there we can do, you may have things you are already doing or want to do — but this article is a small plug to champion one particular cause. My network — particularly those who work in digital and tech — is typically advantaged, active in the UK economy and in our societies. Most of us are hopefully doing okay, and supporting each other to get better. Many of us mentor and coach in workplaces and organisations — looking after talented people, helping them become even better. But there is one section of society, a large one, that doesn’t have quite the same access to mentoring. What does NEET mean? NEET is a category for those who are, or at risk of becoming, . There are those who are NEET, and those at risk of becoming NEET. It is young children at risk of exclusion from school. Young children self-withdrawing from school. Teenagers struggling to find their way. Young adults who have fallen out of the system. All of which have potential, if not self-belief. Not in Employment, Education, or Training The UK Office for National Statistics tells us the UK NEET rate has not improved over the past five years. In the midpoint of last year — before the Covid-19 pandemic — there were 792,000 young people in the UK aged 16 to 24 years who were NEET. Each of those 792,000 people is a life somewhere. 20-year-old, Caitlyn Morgan it feels like everything is against her. Her work placement fell through after Covid struck and she struggles to find a job. Opportunities are becoming limited as organisations face uncertainty. tells us This is a “ticking time bomb” and will damage the prospects of a generation. It’s not just the UK. that even before the pandemic, young people were three times more likely to be unemployed, with one in five NEET. Those with jobs were likely to be employed in the gig economy — in 2016, three out of four young workers were in informal employment, without the protections enjoyed by older workers in more secure jobs. It is a fine line for them becoming NEET. The World Economic Forum tells us In McKinsey’s on safeguarding Europe’s livelihood they write that young people in Europe are twice as likely to be in jobs at risk as older workers. The World Bank has this pandemic could cost this generation $10 trillion in lost income over their lifetimes without determined and coordinated action from governments. article warned While significant it’s not only employment and income. Young people like everyone can suffer from confidence issues and issues in their relationships with friends and family. Those at risk of becoming NEET may not have the support around them to help them move on. They may struggle with their self confidence and their place in the world. The economy misses out too, as well as our society. While I can’t fully relate or know what it’s like to be the people I meet, I grew up in a rough part of Manchester where unemployment was high, young male role models were typically on benefits, and the likelihood of doing well in education and employment was low. I was lucky to break out of that — lucky because I had the right guidance and mentors — and maybe a bit of serendipity. Young people may have the influences in their lives to help them break-through — or they might benefit from a friendly face who can mentor them onto higher things. Action is being taken Organisations like are making strides in attempting to more comprehensively understand the NEET population, predictors of being NEET and how it varies from region to region. Impetus Camilla Cavendish of the Financial Times promise of a “lifetime skills guarantee” offering free further education courses to adults without A levels of equivalents, as an antidote to how today, too many people who don’t go to university are left “without opportunity or hope”. applauds the UK government Local Government too are looking at to ensure young people can realise their full potential and that the needs of employers are met. strategies All of this is encouraging — and a mentor from another walk of life could be well timed too. What can we do? Many of us have an advantage. The majority of my network are in business, technology and digital sectors, including a swathe that are bucking the coronavirus slump. UK tech startups are seeing funding nearing 2019 levels. In June compiled for the Digital Economy Council show that UK tech startups raised $5.3bn in venture capital funding between January and May 2020. The amount raised in the same period in 2019 was $5.4bn — and that was a record year — even with Covid-19. data suggesting this could be another strong year Technology is driving the Nasdaq to . Here’s to a better 2021 after the year we’ve had. all time highs Those of us involved in Digital are in an interesting movement going at pace. We are in an age where all aspects of work, life and society are being digitally transformed — the 4th Industrial Revolution. Even during the coronavirus pandemic and destabilisation of the global economy, Digital and Tech bucks the trend. There are people we need to not leave behind — ironically there is a skills shortage and you don’t need a degree these days to make computers do things. Could there be a win-win of supporting people who are NEET to get back in the economy, including meeting some of the digital skills gap? Whether it’s doing this or just helping them on the straight and narrow, and regaining their self belief, it’s worth a shot. Reading I was lucky enough to discover Starting Point in Reading, UK. They describe themselves as a project passionate in seeing transformation in the lives of young people who face disadvantage. Since they started in 2012 they have strived to meet the need of youngsters, particularly those hardest to reach. Starting Point in particular is broadening its scope, focusing as much on those at risk for various reasons as those who are NEET — it is good to intervene early. Children and young adults, aged 11–25, at risk of or involved in anti-social behaviour, criminal activity, exploitation, and youth violence. It is hard work, but important work. The statistics are impressive. 101 young people mentored in 2019. 30% of young people accessed Employment in 2019. 25% of young people accessed Education in 2019. 38% of young people continued mentoring into 2020. Even more impressive than the stats though are the stories behind them. “McDonald’s sent an email saying congratulations on the interview.” — Daniel “If I didn’t have Starting Point I don’t think I would be in the job I am doing now.” — Chantelle “When I found a mentor they helped me get off that path.” — Reece “Having a mentor has helped instil that confidence in me that there are people out there that believe in me.” — Sam The that go with these quotes are 1 to 2 minutes each — you should watch them. four videos and The Oracle in Reading are two of the organisations that have supported, providing mentoring and work experience opportunities. Starting Point need individual volunteer mentors too — with wisdom and another perspective, to help those young kids and lost young adults. McDonald’s If you live in the Reading area, have some time, and think this is something you could do, then check out Starting Point. There are other organisations too. The in London. The , and . The . The . There will be other organisations across the UK and elsewhere. TimeBank Looking Ahead Pilot Active8 Remote NEET Online Platform Action West London Really Neet Inspiring Change Programme ThinkForward Programme If you enjoy mentoring and coaching — then this is another demographic that could be hugely rewarding — or perhaps even consider recruitment and work placement opportunities in terms of diversity of minds and opportunities for young. I am at the beginning of my mentoring journey with Starting Point, and already have learned more than I’ve given. There is untapped potential in people who are NEET. The mentoring challenges may be harder for someone facing expulsion versus a successful professional, but — that outside influence, of someone they might not normally meet — your wisdom, and encouragement, might just be the nudge they need to regain their self-belief and get active in the UK economy and society. This could be better for all of us — and potentially change someone’s life. Also published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/helping-those-who-areneet-gary-watts/?published=t&trackingId=DFVYooqhQ2W67cwBDI%2ByhA%3D%3D

How to Help Those Who Are NEET

Seasoned veteran or a novice, an entrepreneur needs to know survival is possible only through smooth coordination amongst various departments. Key-corner stone to smooth coordination amongst department is possible via services of skillful manager. The written piece here aims to outweigh and outline the need for star managers to smoothly operate both simple and complex tasks. Most or any other industry don’t remain open with their doors at the end of the first year. So, the need for the manager is twice as much for these startup entrepreneurial ventures. startups in tech So, let’s explore the topic in detail. How to determine the best size for a team? Teamwork makes the impossible possible through sheer hard work and coordination. But, it is still difficult to know how many members are ideal for teamwork. Teamwork is the backbone of every organization. Teamwork and team size depends on the project and task. Mostly, the team size depends on three variables. Goals Every organization has its own goals and objectives. And, the organization needs a team to achieve its goals and objectives. The size of the team depends on the goals and objectives. Roles necessary to complete goals The size of a team also depends on the number of roles necessary to complete goals. Goals help to determine the roles necessary for a team to succeed. So, the number of roles helps to determine the ideal size of a team. Deadline The project deadline also helps in determining the size of the team. If the project deadline is too short then a large team with more skill and experience is required. Otherwise, a small team can be organized to complete a task. Does size matter in teams? The size definitely matters in a team. Working in larger groups often means less participation and less effectiveness. When it comes to productivity, small groups are more productive and more effective than larger teams. Generally, small teams are preferred for completing a task and achieving the goals and objectives of a project. Team members in a small group builds trust quicker than the larger groups. Since the team is small, communication and coordination between the team members becomes a lot easier. The team members can easily build a good relationship with fellow team members. It becomes easier for the small team to adapt to the change. It also becomes easier for the small team to reach out to fellow team members when problems arise. The team members become less productive when the team increases. Another advantage of a small team is that information flows a lot faster within the team. Team members feel more responsible. They know more about the fellow team members and know what tasks they are doing. If any problem arises then team members can easily communicate and take part in solving the problem. Quick and better decisions can be taken in a smaller team. Different strategies can be planned and implemented quickly. So in this regard, smaller teams are more preferred than the larger teams. Why a manager is important for business? Every business needs a manager to look after the organizational management. Without proper management, there is no organization. A manager is one of the great assets an organization can have. He/she is the one having a significant role in planning and making the best decisions for the organization. So, let’s see the importance of the manager for the business. Achieve organizational goals Business goals and objectives are the sole reasons for the establishment of the organization. But, sometimes the plans and strategies start to go the wrong way and you will realize that you are unable to meet goals and objectives. You realize that plans and strategies are not aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives. If you want better plans and strategies that can help your business to grow, then you can hire a manager. An experienced and qualified manager will list out the problems and will develop short-term and long-term plans and align those plans with business goals and objectives. He/she will ensure that the organization achieves its goals and objectives. Optimum utilization of resources Most of the business has limited resources. Such resources should be utilized optimally for effective and efficient business operations. Lack of effective utilization of resources will increase the workload, time to complete a task, expenses of the organization, and so on. A manager can free you from this burden. He/she will develop plans and strategically utilize the resources at the right time in the right place. He/she will ensure that the resources are utilized effectively and efficiently. Hiring and training You alone cannot run an organization. You need people to work for you. Without people to work for you, you cannot grow your business. So, you need to that will work for the growth of the business. recruit people But, if you don’t know anything about the recruiting process, then you should hire a human resource (HR) manager who will focus on the interview process, the recruiting process, and training new employees. The HR manager will also help to delegate the task to the right person. This will increase the efficiency of the employees if provided the right task to the employees that match their skillset. Cost reduction As a business owner, you need to find and implement plans and strategies to reduce the cost. If expenses are not controlled and minimized then your organization might go bankrupt. ways to deal with the increasing expenses So before it’s too late, you need to hire an experienced and qualified manager who can find the root cause of increasing expenses and find solutions to reduce the expenses. He/she will ensure that the cost is reduced by minimizing the wastage, deploying the right people at the right place, utilizing the available resources effectively and efficiently, and so on. Wastage reduction One of the importance of having a manager in an organization is wastage reduction. The manager in an organization uses the available resources effectively that helps to reduce wastage of human resources, cost, money, and so on. The manager knows well when and where to use the available resources which in return reduces the wastage. Communication Miscommunication and discoordination are some of the biggest hurdles in making a business successful. Lack of communication guidelines and channels can break the flow of information as well as will increase discoordination among the employees. Think this as a relationship between an airline radio operator and a pilot. What will happen if there is miscommunication and discoordination between them? The consequences might be dangerous. If you want to avoid such dangerous consequences to never rise in your organization, then you need to hire a manager. He/she will define the best communication guidelines and channels for effective coordination and flow of information. He/she will ensure that the information is communicated properly and there is coordination among the employees. Motivate employees Employees need motivation and encouragement so that they can give their best at the workplace. Without any motivation to work, the employees feel bored and the employee turnover increases. So, the manager motivates his employees to achieve organizational goals as well as their personal goals. Appraising their work can also motivate them. Knowing that they are cared for by the manager will encourage them to work. Resolve disputes Disputes may arise anytime in the organization. Disputes halt organizational activities. This will also halt business growth. You are there to solve the problem when you are available in the organization. But what about in your absence? Who will stop the dispute? In such a situation, you need to hire a manager who will prevent disputes and motivate employees. He/she will clarify the problems and brings harmony between the employees. The manager maintains discipline in an organization. Also implementing the open-door policy will help employees to share their problems and confusion with the manager. This helps to prevent the dispute before it arises. This also helps to discipline the employees and maintain peace in the organization. Maintain coordination The manager maintains coordination among the employees to achieve organizational goals and objectives. The manager helps in building teamwork that is necessary for an organization. Teamwork is important because one cannot achieve anything without good teamwork. Together can help to achieve greater heights. So, the manager plays an important role in maintaining coordination in an organization. When to hire a manager? Once you establish a business, you need people to work with you. And you need a manager to coordinate and maintain discipline in the organization. The manager is key to a successful growing business. So, let’s see when to hire a manager. Employees to manage Every business needs employees to run a business. But, the manager is one who brings them together. The owner cannot handle every employee himself/herself. So, the owner needs to hire a manager that handles employees of the organization. Since the owner attends meetings and fulfills all the other obligations, he/she does not get time to manage every employee. So, hiring a manager to manage the employees is a perfect option for the organization. Scaling The manager can help an organization when scaling the business. There may arise a time when you need to hire employees, add more branches of the organization, add additional product lines, and so on. In such a situation, you need someone who can handle them properly. So in such growth, the manager can help you to scale your business faster and effectively manage the organization and employees on a day-to-day basis. Failed to manage workplace You as an owner think you can do everything on your own. But as time passes, roles and responsibilities increase and workload increases. Soon you will realize that you need someone with whom you can share roles and responsibilities. You are also unable to give time to the organization and to your employees. And your worse nightmare begins i.e. the working environment begins to crumble. So, you need to hire a manager who is experienced, qualified, and responsible enough to manage the workplace and employees. Organization’s obligations You are busy attending meetings and conferences. You are busy attending such events to increase the organization’s image, reputation, and identity in the market. At the same time, you are also worried about your organization and your employees. There is no one reliable to look after the organization and employees in your absence. If you want to be free from this burden and focus on building reputations and image in the market, then you need to hire a manager. Failed to measure performance The performance of any business must be measured to know whether your business is strong or not. You need to check whether the plans and strategies are on the right track or not. But, if you are unaware of the business performance and fail to take corrective action when the plans fail, then you need to hire a manager who is competent enough to check the results against goals and take corrective action. Hiring a manager will help to check whether plans are right on the track or not. Failed to implement the right technology Technology makes work easier and faster. Implementing the right technology in the workplace can help you simplify the business process and increase performance and productivity. But, if you are not a tech-loving guy and are unaware of the technology, then you should hire a tech manager so that he/she will help you to adapt to new technologies emerging in the market. Adapting to change is an essential phase of the business lifecycle. Failed to market the business Customer engagement is the life of any business. It is an ongoing process that helps the business to grow. And the marketing process makes this reality as it helps to build relationships with the customers. If you want to increase customer engagement and if you think the marketing process is not effective and have no idea what to do, then you need to hire a marketing manager who will look after the marketing process. He/she will plan and implement the best strategy to market a business. He/she will select the best marketing medium to promote the business. How big should your team be before hiring a manager? There is not any hard and fast rule for hiring a manager. It depends on the decision made by the organization’s authority. There is not any fixed time to hire a manager. The entire decision lies with the authority to decide the right time to hire a manager regardless of the team size. One cannot say this is the right team size to hire a manager. Every small organization including startups has an owner who looks after the organizations and the employees. But as the organization grows, employees increase and along with them, more responsibilities follow. Gradually, it becomes hard for the owner to look after the organization and employees. He/she needs someone to manage the organization and the employees. The owner should take the decision to hire a manager to manage the organization and employees. But one question arises “What should be the size of the employees or team before hiring a manager?”. When you start to hire more employees in the organization, then you take the decision to hire a manager. If you can handle the employees and the organization at the same time, then there is no problem. But, if you cannot handle the team and the organization, then you should be ready to hire a manager. The team size does not matter if you want to hire a manager. As an owner, you have other obligations. Even if the team size is small, you can hire a manager to manage a team. Some hire a manager when the team or employee size is 10 or 15 or 20 or 50 or even more. It depends on the organization when to hire a manager. The team size does not matter but the managers should be skilled enough to handle a team. Some of the characteristics that a manager should possess are: The manager should be able to lead the employees effectively. He/she should be able to lead them to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Leadership: The manager should have experience in managing and handling the organization and employees. He/she should have experience working in a professional environment. Experience: The manager should be able to coordinate and communicate with his/her team. Both sides should trust each other. Communicate: The manager should have knowledge of managing the organization and employees effectively and efficiently. Knowledge: The manager should be able to manage time. He/she should be able to prioritize tasks and communicate with the team members. Time management: The manager should be able to prioritize the tasks and delegate roles and responsibilities to each member. The manager should encourage every team member to complete the task. Delegation: The manager should respect his/her employees. He/she should trust and communicate regularly with employees. Respect employees: The owner must look at the needs of the organization. If the organization needs a manager then the owner should hire a manager for the organization. The main point to remember is that it is entirely up to the organization to hire a manager when the appropriate time comes. Some organizations may hire a manager when a team is small and some may hire when a team is large. The decision to hire a manager lies with the authority. When they feel like the team needs a manager to lead them then hiring a manager is a good choice for the organization. This post was first published on Truemark .

When Is Your Team Big Enough To Necessitate Hiring a Manager? 

From Google to online academies to LinkedIn badges, 21st-century higher education is striving towards coherence. Prospective Bachelor's students increasingly balk at the debt associated with the degree, yet it remains the most credible way to prove employability. Legions of new certifications and vocational programs clutter the higher education ecosystem, yet lack accreditation. career certificates Four-year institutions can take this time of disruption as an opportunity. Containerized skills and their digital proof points, verifiable credentials, are already forming a new kind of higher education, one that gives students more choice and employers more insight. Because they wield educational credibility, colleges and universities can transform from digital laggards to the architects of tomorrow's workplace skills. The new expectations of digitization According to a recent report, advancing digitization is changing the economy in fundamental ways, leading to a need for "new credentialing methods and systems that can capture, recognize and validate a broader range of learning outcomes." UNESCO Our connected economy blurs the lines between one type of industry and the next, points out. It enabled clusters of 'digitally native' businesses and new types of jobs. Suddenly a day trader could also be a Lyft driver, or a mobile app designer could also run an online affiliate business on the side. Amazon can run a ; Google can sell a 'replacement' university. McKinsey pharmacy One of the great powers of Google--and any big tech company, for that matter--is its ability to build new lines of business from online data. The most successful tech companies maximize the opportunities of Web 2.0, the 'social web' that enables multi-device interoperability and unlimited sharing. Four-year institutions also thrive on interconnected networks of people, but have yet to connect the technological infrastructure to support the options required in the mid-21st century. Bootcamps, microdegrees and badges As the economy continues to digitize, expectations of digital behavior also increase, placing laggard institutions at risk of losing credibility. Most Americans still consider the Bachelor's degree the bare minimum for a lifetime of stable wages. Yet prospective students at r . Construction, skilled nursing, cybersecurity and other growing technical industries can't find enough employees to fill demand. balk ecord student debt New programs proliferate to fill the gap. Community college and for-profit vocational programs have increased in number over the . Coding bootcamps abound. States such as offer multimillion dollar grants to subsidize education. A few four-year colleges advertise a hybrid type of program called the , which prioritizes trade skills before general education. past 20 years Colorado upside-down degree Microcredentials are also having their moment. , founded by MIT and Harvard, offers a global collection of free, accredited  online courses, which can be used to attain 'MicroBachelor' and 'MicroMaster' designations, along with more traditional certificates and degrees. Coursera and Udacity boast options including the 'nanodegree.' Digital badges such as and also signify the attainment of skills. Stack enough badges together and you attain a bigger credential. Badges are also machine readable, meaning that each student earns a repository of skills that can be transferred between jobs and schools. EdX LinkedIn badges IBM Badges Where does this leave the four-year degree? Like so many other industries before it, higher education is reckoning with the consequences of accelerated digitization. Colleges' and universities' biggest advantage is accreditation, and the credibility that comes with it. Employers aren't versed in the major differences between the nanodegree, MicroBachelor's, stackable badges and other new kinds of vocational certificates. There is no standard way to evaluate credentials or assure quality. Four-year institutions have an opportunity not only to expand their own offerings to meet the needs of the digital generation of students, but to inform a new set of standards that employers understand. Just as four-year institutions led the way in 20th century education, they can also lead the way in the 21st, by parsing skills into a coherent, transferable and stackable body of education. Containerized skills, verifiable credentials "Our talent marketplace is fragmented, preventing an individual's record of learning from being transferable data." This is the premise for offering $900,000 in grants towards not only digitizing the diploma, but adding greater flexibility to the ways in which students showcase evidence of their skills. US Chamber of Commerce Foundation's This is the crux of where the four-year degree is headed, and it is enabled by a specific kind of technology: the verifiable credential. Basically a cryptographic digital version of the college diploma and transcript (and, in daily life, the driver's license, social security card and so on), the verifiable credential is how four-year institutions can not only catch up with the disruptive effects digitization, but render coherent a messy higher-education ecosystem, and meet both student and employer expectations. In a sense, four-year degrees are already made of stackable units, namely course credits. Verifiable credentials enable students to containerize the different skills that come as a result of these credits. The resume may tell employers that you graduated with a degree from MIT, but verifiable credentials will demonstrate your specific skills in IT networking, Python coding and organizational psychology. A student's entire body of knowledge thus becomes containerized, verifiable and customizable. If Employer A wants skills in organizational psychology and human-machine interfaces, a student can load up a verifiable credential with courses associated with those skills, and send it to an employer, who opens it with a cryptographic key. If Employer B wants skills in Python and IT networking, the student can containerize and send those skills, in addition to any previous workplace experience she has, and post-graduate certifications. The resume becomes not a matter of rewriting bullet points, but of sending containers of verifiable skills to recruiters, proving not only that an applicant is a customized fit, but that she's not lying on her resume. Standards for this new system of credentials are still being decided. What is the overall equivalent of a Bachelor's degree? Which courses comprise 'badges' of attainment in a certain skill, and which courses stack together to become a certificate? This is where colleges and universities have the opportunity to lay the groundwork. Comprised of networks of human experts, institutions of higher education have the smartest people to dedicate towards establishing these standards, and the longest history of expertise in credentials and accreditation. Pilot projects in verifiable credentials, with the digital diplomas and digitized transfer credits that result, are the ideal first step in understanding how this new system works. Strong contributions to spreading and educating on standards such as those espoused by will place institutions at the center of the global digitization movement. Parsing workplace skills and training into verifiable credentials will help students understand that the four-year institution is relevant and interested in their employability. And a new kind of 21st-century education will be forged, the kind that benefits all. the W3C working group on Verifiable Credentials

How Colleges Can Use Verifiable Credentials to Forge 21st-Century Leadership

Philippe Peron is a Chief Delivery Officer of a Leicester-based software house . He has almost a decade’s experience with building and managing Agile development teams from both the customer and service provider perspectives. Evolve In his tech leadership roles at , the Number One marketplace in Switzerland, and , a leading British food tech company, Philippe has learned many invaluable lessons from managing and scaling extended software engineering teams and dealing with issues like resistance to change, cultural gaps, etc. ricardo.ch Just Eat Some of these lessons are definitely worth sharing with fellow hackernooners and the rest of the world. So I’ve tele-interviewed Philippe about his career journey and passion for IT, tech leadership, how to align in-house and extended IT teams and make them work in concert to deliver above expectations, and more. Enjoy the conversation! Philippe, how did you get to the world of tech? Was it always one of your passions? A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… when I was 11, my parents gave me my very first computer as a Christmas present. It was a home computer called . At that time, there were magazines (called “ ”) that I could buy at a kiosk which contained hundreds and hundreds of lines of code that I could type and save. So I used that code to create some very basic programs. It literally took me weeks to complete, entering one character at a time … and of course, in the end, some typos generated errors that took ages to find. What a lot of fun! Commodore 64 Hebdogiciel While in Middle School in France, I went to an IT club, where I learned and actually understood the basics of coding -- If, then, else, loop, goto (yes I know it's terrible), "hello world," etc... This was my first experience in the IT world. Later, I began experimenting with some more sophisticated programming using the first real PC called . It wasn’t for gaming at all, so it wasn’t considered trendy at that time. As there was no Internet yet, there wasn't an opportunity to get any technical inspiration or support online or browse media channels for audio and video content. We just had books, books, and more books. HP Vectra CS When I went to high school, I got my first taste at "real programming" by developing programs with functions and procedures, and at last, some graphical complexity. In general, I carried on on the same path; I went to an IT university in 1990; after university, I went to an IT engineering school in Paris. This time, it was much more serious. It wasn't just about programming. Here, I got a full spectrum of skills such as Systems & Networks, OOP, Databases, etc. These were the years when the Internet revolutionized the world. And what was your first job in IT? After that engineering school, I got my first job at , now a leading travel tech company. I went deep into learning a real-time operating system for mainframe computers from IBM ( ) and Assembler language for microprocessors. It was my first official commercial experience. My first three years in programming as a professional consisted mostly of Assembler and a little bit of C and C++ programming. Amadeus TPF After Amadeus, I joined a Fintech startup. Well, this term wasn't as well-known back then, but the company's name was so it rings a bell. There I was in charge of databases and exploitation of data, so it was almost like a mix between Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence. Finance Technology, We got data about different stock markets from real-time streams, I saved all that data into databases and then I developed a program that would analyse all that data and provide automatic technical analysis. We were selling such content to a website that was an equivalent to Google in France, voila.fr (by France Telecom). That portal was the leading search engine in France in the early 2000s. It had several sections like news, horoscope, weather forecast, and finance. When someone would click on a chart, they would be able to see the stock market forecasts. All that content was based on our technical analysis formula. Image source: www.macg.co Unfortunately, that startup lacked funds at a later stage, so I was dismissed along with other colleagues. Anyway, as far as I know, the technology's IP was acquired afterward by a large financial institution, and some of the founders were rewarded for all their efforts. After that, I went into something a bit more "exotic." I got a job in the mega-yacht industry. At that time, mega-yachts were ones that ranged from 60 up to 90-100 meters in length. Now there are much longer superyachts, but at that time, only up to 10 people in the world owned the ones ranging between 90 and 100 meters. Those yachts had IT needs. During the construction, they needed an ERP-like system to keep track of all materials used to build the boat, like screws, paints, engines, etc. They also needed a way to track costs and save technical documentation. Our software helped those boats to operate and structure all critical information. I was developing and installing that software, either during the construction phase in shipyards around the world or afterward when the boats were at sea or onshore. I had terrific experiences cruising on those boats when they were sailing across the sea. I just embarked on the boat with my backpack and essentials for 2-3 days, as I never knew when I'd be done with my installations. After that, I joined an e-commerce company called . At that time, ricardo.ch was by far the number one e-Commerce website in Switzerland, before eBay. They had an R&D center in the South of France. I was hired mainly as a DBA (MS-SQL) and was writing code as needed. ricardo.ch This is where I got my first managerial experience. After three years, in 2008, I got a couple of developers under my lead, and since then, my passion for leading people never stopped growing. ricardo.ch was the company that made me understand more about outsourcing, and I gained firsthand experience working with Ukrainian developers. As ricardo.ch was growing and thriving, they needed more tech resources to ensure their roadmap achievement. However, top management didn't want to invest 100% of the company's R&D budget into the French team. In 2011, I was tasked with going to Ukraine and meeting with a nearshore provider that appealed the most to our CTO compared to other providers in the shortlist. That CTO was young, agile, and pragmatic, he didn't fear outsourcing and going East. He asked me to go and explore the opportunity in Ukraine and help him make the final decision. After I visited the provider in Ukraine and talked to some of their developers, I was impressed with their passion, open mind, and willingness to be real contributors to the project's success. I really liked that spirit and told my boss I was OK to move forward with outsourcing development to Ukraine. In September 2011, I started traveling every week back and forth from France to Ukraine until the decision was made to relocate me permanently to Ukraine to work closely with the team. I was building a team from scratch between 2011 and 2014 and grew it up to 35 resources, consisting of .Net, some JavaScript, some BI and QA guys and girls as well as some mobile developers. Then there was a change in management in 2014. The new CTO wasn't as supportive of outsourcing and had a different strategy in mind. So it wasn't long before we said goodbye to each other, and that finally occurred at the end of 2014. By the way, ricardo.ch closed its Ukraine-based development operation about a year later. During that period, I accidentally met the Director of Just Eat, UK's leading FoodTech company, that had its own extended team in Ukraine with the same provider. He eventually invited me to join their company in the same position I had at ricardo.ch (Site Manager). I agreed, and they put me into the recruitment process, and that's how I started my second outsourcing adventure, still as a customer, with the same provider in the same building … just on a different floor. However, this time everything was different, as Just Eat had different outsourcing objectives, overall ambitions, and the company was also not the same size. They already had a team of 25 professionals when I took it over. After being adopted by the team, my fantastic journey started. Just Eat planned to grow their Ukrainian team, and also decided to open a third development centre in Bristol as an addition to their London-based core team. This was around the end of 2014 to the beginning of 2015. That triggered some adjustments between the different locations. After the , Ukraine was considered as a country with potential instability, so balancing risks and influences was the right thing to do, to stay aligned with a successful IPO in 2014. Revolution of Dignity (Maydan) Since the IT growth was more focused on the Bristol team, the acceleration was more visible on the UK side. However, a couple of years later, due to the shortage of the right match of skills and talent in the UK and other factors, the Kyiv team was back under the spotlights. When I joined in 2014, they were a team made up of 25 people. When I left in 2018, the team was composed of more than 85 specialists. Now more than 100 professionals work in Ukraine. After my four-year journey with Just Eat in Ukraine, I joined Evolve at the beginning of 2019 as the Chief Delivery Officer. Since you've been working in Ukraine for a while, what makes this experience enjoyable? When I first came to Ukraine, I was a fresh manager facing issues with talent acquisition in France. The speed of hiring was slow, the cost of resources was high. Moreover, France has specific practices that must be followed to be in line with the country's labour law. If you hire someone who passes the trial period, it'll be near impossible to dismiss them if you find out at a later stage that they aren't the right fit for your company or aren't meeting your expectations anymore. In most cases, you have to pay a salary to a dismissed employee for several months as redundancy. But what if your company goes through a period of financial turbulence? You shouldn't have to wait to be bankrupted to pilot it. This creates a huge risk for small companies and adds severe constraints to solid business models. I don't mean that it's good to fire people on the fly, not at all. However, as an Agile decider, you should have a little bit of flexibility swapping underperforming team members or recalibrating your IT costs when needed. In France, it's almost impossible. In Ukraine, you have a 14-days or a month-long notice period depending on your contract to dismiss an employee who doesn't meet your expectations. Coming to Ukraine helped me contribute in a pragmatic way to the IT strategy of ricardo.ch by hiring faster and balancing HR risks. At Just Eat, we were benchmarked with UK-based recruitment. From a Finance Department point of view, when trying to compare apples with apples, the cost of a private entrepreneur in Ukraine (contractor profile equivalence) is between 30% and 50% cheaper than the cost of a UK-based contractor (depending on the location). Even if clearly, this wasn't the main deciding factor, it eased some of the pressure on the IT budget. From a management perspective, an extended team is considered as an organic extension of an in-house team and treated the same way. So it shouldn't create any extra burden as long as one of your main hiring criteria is a cultural fit and obviously as long as your organisation is mature enough to be extended. And how does the quality of Ukrainian developers compare to France or the UK? It's a good question. It's not about quality, but more about maturity, and maturity is a complex topic. In Ukraine, software engineers aren't as "talkative" as in France, but they're good at what they do. You can rely on them, and they will show initiative if properly empowered and/or coached by management. They won't consider their job done by "just" processing the backlog. They seek constant improvements by investing in their engineering skills and technical experience to contribute to the project's success without over-engineering it. In this way, they're similar to the UK engineers, except that the British engineers are better at making themselves visible and being self-managed in general. Sometimes it's difficult to get transparent feedback because of their significant respect for the so-called hierarchy. This is a clear cultural difference with, for example, France, and you must insist on this to happen to get the best of your relationship with team members. It's a win-win situation as it helps everybody to get better, even though sometimes you'll need to forget a bit about your ego. This will motivate Team members to voice their ideas during technical discussions and increase their self-confidence. What I like seeing is when developers know what they're doing and, most importantly, why. I always appreciate when they can offer insights from their experience to help all stakeholders achieve their goals. You have the advantage of looking at Agile teams both from a customer and provider perspective. So what's your secret to avoiding project failure? The extended team model implies that at some stage (when reaching a certain team size), the recruitment of a "local authority" (Site Manager, Delivery Manager) to manage and coordinate teamwork on-premise is key. Indeed remote collaboration relies on the solidity of the virtual bridges that you build cross-locations. Addressing distance and obstacles between the distributed teams is one of the critical aspects of it. Hiring the right profile offshore, as a trusted and radiating proxy of your company's culture is undoubtedly another vital aspect of this process. As a customer, you are the primary influencer, actor, and motivator. You and not your outsourcing partner! You need to inject your corporate DNA into your extended team(s) to ensure that you are getting the expected value for the money you are investing in. How to avoid failure? It depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you come with a long-term need, this is when you have to think about the effort you'll need to invest in your extended team to make it a success. Again there's no miracle. I'm not talking about money here. You can have a lot of money but end up having a complete fiasco. You need to make sure that when you're engaging in a long-term relationship (12 months plus) with the company that will be operating your extended team, they understand your culture, as it's crucial for your team's success. As a client, you need to make sure that you have enough capacity internally to connect your remote team into your corporate culture and environment in general. As surprising as it sounds, very often, companies realise while suffering from their extended team integration that they have no corporate culture or at least not as adopted internally as expected. Or what they discover is that problems they may be having with the extended team are mirroring existing internal issues. Unfortunately, your onshore team might be quite resistant to what could be perceived as a threat or unfair competition. Honest and transparent communication from management on that topic (real reasons, plans) is mandatory to get buy-in for employees, or you'll set yourself up for failure. I had a similar situation at ricardo.ch, but it went well, thanks to my status as their former colleague (although they didn't like me that much when I was growing the team in Ukraine ( ). I also had strong support from my CTO and other managers who helped convince the team that their extension would be good for the company and for them. laughing Very soon, the Ukrainian side was considered as part of the family, the French team bought-into this engagement and had no more concerns about their future. Before embarking on a team extension journey, you should be ready to go through some painful moments, from something going wrong with recruitment to onboarding the newcomers to having to dismiss someone along the way. All these points have to be anticipated and clearly discussed with your service provider. Be focused and persistent, be fair and supportive, and don't let any walls separate your teams. Communication is the cement that builds a strong foundation. Consider your distributed IT organization as a product. Like any product, you build it, inspect it, and adapt it. So, as I've already mentioned, it all depends on what type of need you have. If you have a project in mind for just 6 months, it's OK to go ahead and hold your provider accountable for your project delivery. Check their portfolio, ask for references, review their existing products and solutions. Find out how many projects they've delivered and how they've delivered them. Find out if there were any delays. Beware of the fixed-price paradox: when you aim for a fixed cost, but can never reach it for some reason. You either have to pay more, or your provider has to inject more resources at their own expense or both. However, there can be an engagement evolution from a managed project to an extended team. If you're a startup and only have funds to build your first MVP that needs to be delivered in less than six months and can't have a long-term roadmap because of financial unclarity, you need to start somewhere. So you can engage a third-party provider for MVP development, and later, when you attract more funding, you can convert your managed team into your permanent extended team. And again, the same story about the culture, team integration, etc. Should you have any additional questions or enquiries, you can reach out to Philippe Peron directly on LinkedIn. Also, check out a female CTO sharing her thorny journey in the male-dominated tech world . Do you have a tech career journey that deserves a shout-out? Get in touch and I'll be happy to interview you for my next story on HackerNoon!

Consider Your Distributed IT Team As a Product: Interview with Philippe Peron, CDO

What do a smartphone, a kick scooter and a pet have in common? When combined and powered by artificial intelligence, they become new members of the household – social companion robots. They can do a boatload of things from guarding the house and doing chores to babysitting and teaching kids to keeping company to the older adults or those with health issues. According to a market research company , in 2019, the global robotics market reached a volume of 12 million units, growing at CAGR of 22% between 2015 and 2019. A recent study by that the advanced robotics market value will be up to a whopping $17 trillion by 2025. IMARC McKinsey Global Institute predicts “ ,” says McKinsey. The development of this market sector is to a large extent driven by new applications in the area of social robotics Social robots are designed specifically to enter human social interaction space both physically and semantically and to disrupt the core of our current social practices. That being said, they act as a catalyst for change in social engineering. While social robots can be of any shape and size, their key goal is to assist people and make their life easier and happier. The Research Insights that between 2020 to 2027, the social robots market will be worth $700 million at a CAGR of 14%. It reflects a high demand for social robotic solutions both among individual and corporate users. predicts One of the areas that’s expected to benefit a lot from social robots is healthcare. Social Robots On the Frontline of Healthcare Technology-packed mechanical creatures express emotions and respond to touch. They come into play in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and places where other humans and animals aren’t allowed. A by the has demonstrated that “social robots used in support sessions held in pediatric units at hospitals “can lead to more positive emotions in sick children.” study Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) One robotics company has recently done some pilot studies that generally confirm the MIT findings. With the knowledge in mind that hospitalized kids experience a high level of anxiety and social isolation, designed and built , a social robot that helps mitigate stress and loneliness for children admitted to hospitals for both short-term interventions (e.g., sonography, CT scanning and blood sampling procedures) and long-term medical treatment (e.g., surgeries, infections, etc.). Expper Technologies Robin Robin the Robot Made of fully recyclable bioplastic, Robin is the first of its kind social robot that uses to help sick children overcome stress and anxiety. Other available solutions for the hospitals are limited in terms of . They are used as toys or tools rather than friends. Robin, in contrast, uses a peer-to-peer approach and becomes kind of a “buddy” who is always there to support during the hard times. peer-to-peer interaction meaningful interaction Expper Technologies is developing their AI-based patent-pending technology to build peer-to-peer emotional interactions between Robin and children. This technology utilizes reinforcement learning to anchor relevant emotional reactions by analyzing facial expressions and context of conversations. It allows for building an associative memory and intelligently react by replicating patterns formed upon previous experiences (children’s emotions, conversational patterns, facial expressions, behavioral patterns). That being said, Robin builds follow-up dialogues considering individual features of a particular person. How Research Data Proves Effectiveness of Robin the Robot Robin the Robot has already been used in pilot studies conducted in and . The results are more than impressive! Avanta Dental Clinic Wigmore Clinic UK I reached out to , CEO and Co-Founder of Expper Technologies, to learn more about the results of the studies and how Robin makes a difference, compared to competitive solutions. Karén Khachikyan According to Karén, the first pilot started in November 2019 and lasted for two months. Robin served as a companion for children of different ages and with varying diagnoses in Wigmore Clinic Medical Center in Yerevan (Armenia). In the majority of cases, kids perceived Robin as their peer. All 120 kids who have interacted with Robin at least once expressed the desire to meet him again. The pilot proved an increase in joyfulness level in kids by more than 26% as well as stress level reduction by 34%. In some cases, Robin decreased the time of medical procedures up to 40% as children were less stressed and more cooperative. The pilot took place in both inpatient and outpatient settings and collected the following data: Behavioral data (energy level, joyfulness, etc.); Observational data (medical staff approach); Procedure data (amount of drugs, time procedure and preparation); Stress level ( ); Facial Affective Scale Pain level ( ) Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale As much as 88% of parents who interacted with Robin admitted a very high satisfaction with the Wigmore Clinic services versus 73% of parents with no experience of interacting with Robin. The feedback from the medical practitioners is that Robin has managed to engage children in a cooperative environment and make them more communicative, which allowed the medical staff to perform their duties easier and with less frustration involved. How COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected Demand for Companion Robots I also asked Karén about the COVID-19 implications for their robot sales. It turns out that the current situation brought excellent opportunities for Robin. Because of the Global Pandemic children are much more isolated at the hospitals as the visitations have been strictly limited and the medical staff avoids interacting with patients for reducing the chance of the virus spread. Hospitals are looking for solutions to help children cope with isolation, loneliness, and hospital-related stress. Since Robin has already proven its effectiveness in reducing stress and anxiety and supporting kids, hospitals can now provide better emotional support to sick children without any direct human contact. Because Robin is made of eco-friendly bioplastic, it can be easily sterilized with UV light or other disinfectants, minimizing the risk of the virus contagion. Speaking about short-term plans, Karén's team is bringing their technology to the where the pediatrics will be using Robin in the next  couple of weeks to help hospitalized kids cope with their current situation. UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital To promote Robin further and provide it to public hospitals all over Armenia, Expper Technologies has partnered up with the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). In July 2020, the team behind Robin is going to deploy the social robot at ABC Kids Dental Group in LA. Do you have a cool tech story that deserves a shoutout? Drop me a line and I'll be happy to cover it on Hacker Noon!

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